Instead of a middle sized dog, it's a whole pack in full cry

The media-fuelled opposition to the proposed UK Gambling Bill reforms continued for a second week in mainstream British and international media, and amidst the furore it is becoming increasingly unlikely that an early finalisation can be achieved.

One observer commented rather dryly that in view of the extensive consultation and public participation program which preceded the publication of the hopefully final proposals last week, the government had expected an easier ride. Instead, he said "....the media and many MPs professed themselves astonished. Ministers say they expected a "middle-sized dog nibbling at their ankles by now, not the pack in full cry".

The opposition seems to be centred on the land casino aspects of the reforms and fears of too many large casinos in regional British locations, and the Internet gambling legalisation aspect has barely been mentioned.

But every other aspect of the issue has been minutely scrutinised and debated, including past statements of those involved and accusations that the government was interested only in raising taxes rather than sincere regulation - a charge Prime Minister Tony Blair has denied.

Midweek, the Guardian carried a story that looked at possible causes for the uproar, and opined that these could be many and diverse, from Cabinet disagreements and taxation claims and the sweeping wording of the Budd Report with references to 'Las Vegas-style' casinos to the relatively untried civil service team which had to take the intiative further and thrice had to tighten up its proposals. A memo written by Nick Bent, Ms Jowell's special adviser, says the Gambling Bill "will be revenue neutral for HM Treasury". Leading tax analysts say for this to happen the tax rate would have to drop from the current level of 40 per cent to between 15 and 20 per cent.

Another contributing factor was the composition of the joint select committee, where all but two of the MPs and peers who examined the issues in detail had interests, personal or professional, in gambling or racing, including the chairman, Tory MP John Greenway. Officials now admit the issue was "so boring" that the whips could only get such people on the committee. They made 139 mainly technical suggestions, but the strongly critical Daily Mail says it was rigged.

Allegations of multi million dollar lobbying by giant US land casino companies are also cited, and even a publicity photo of cabinet member Tessa Jowell posing as a croupier was used in the Daily Mail's "Kill the Casino Bill." The picture, taken at London's Gala Casino in March 2002 on the day the government's gambling white paper was published, was seen at the time as the perfect opportunity to illustrate the reforms. Politically inspired motives and the absence from the UK of Ms. Jowell on a family matter at a critical juncture are also suggested.

There was no sign of the row diminishing as we went to press. ICM Polling showed that only 34% of the public supporting the casino expansion plan against 53% who want to see it halted. ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,001 adults aged 18 and over by telephone between October 22-24, 2004. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults

Negotiations stalled, now it's time for action

Caribbean Net News reports that it appears as if last week's meeting between the US and Antiguan delegations regarding the WTO ruling on Internet gambling did not resolve the issue - the islanders are now demanding release of the report, which is said to be damaging to the US case that Internet gambling is illegal.

The report quotes Ministry of Finance and the Economy announcements that indicate that Antigua has triggered the process that will ultimately lead to the release of the Final Report by the World Trade Organization Panel. The panel had previously issued a ruling on the dispute between Antigua and Barbuda and the United States, on the provision of Internet Gaming Services to the United States by Antiguan-based gaming operators.

“Over a period of four months, we explored and fully exhausted every possible opportunity to reach a mutually agreeable resolution to our dispute with the United States,” said Dr Errol Court, Minister of Finance and the Economy.

“We held five face-to-face meetings with various branches of the US government, but ultimately, we concluded that the elements necessary for an amicable resolution would not be forthcoming at this time from the United States,” he added.

“At the conclusion of our last meeting, it was fairly obvious to me and my delegation that the time had now come for us to take the next logical step and call for the release of the Panel’s Final Report,” he concluded.

“It comes as something of a bit of disappointment for us,” said Harold Lovell, Minister of Tourism, Foreign Affairs, International Transport and Trade, who participated in the final high-level meeting. “Our delegation presented a number of proposals for the US’ consideration, but, sadly, they were not prepared to accept them,” he said. “What they offered as an alternative was not acceptable to us,” he added.

Officials at the Ministry of Finance and the Economy, the Ministry with the responsibility for this issue, indicated that the US has been given 10 working days notice of Antigua and Barbuda’s intent to request the WTO Panel to release its Final Report.

New Tomb Raider video slot has a ton of features

Trident group casinos King Neptunes Casino and Trident Lounge are among the first on the Internet to offer a new video slot game with a face that is instantly recognisable worldwide - the highly successful Tomb Raider and Lara Croft theme.

This interactive jungle adventure game has gone beyond famous - it is legendary and highly popular with both gamers and the public at large following print and film expansion of the original PC game concept. Trident's games supplier, Microgaming has scored something of an international coup in licensing the concept from the Eidos and Core Design companies.

The game has been developed as a 5 reel, 15 payline, multiple coin video slot, with a Wild and Scatter Symbol, Bonus Feature and Free Spins. Tomb Raider is the first bonus game where the player can win entry into the bonus game from the Free Spins.

Players can bet up to 5 coins on each of the 15 paylines, taking the maximum wager per spin to 75 coins in a range of denominations from a cent right through to a dollar.

The razor sharp, richly coloured graphics carry an exotic jungle treasure theme full of mysterious golden idols, magnificent tigers, the familiar Tomb Raider motif and of course the inimitable Lara Croft herself. With the right combinations, a wide variety of entertaining bonuses, scatters, free spins and wild symbol rewards are possible, most contributing to the end payline.

And what a jackpot that can be at 7 500 coins on a maximum bet of 15 lines x 5 coins per payline at $1 each. Winnings of $37 500 are achievable, and with the free spin x 3 multiplier feature that reward can soar to $112 500.

In the game, the Tomb Raider motif is wild and substitutes for all symbols except scatters and bonus idols. 3, 4 or 5 bonus idols on the active payline will trigger an entertaining Tomb Bonus where rewards are added to payline wins. This can be triggered during free spins, too and choices of 3, 4 or 5 reward idols from a selection of 12 displayed in a hidden rocky tomb is offered to the player.

Trident's Scott Gaines says that the game has some of the best and most imaginative features, digital sound effects and graphics yet seen on the Internet. "This is a thoroughly outstanding game offering features that will make for exciting and rewarding play for hours,and it comes on the advanced Viper software platform" he says.

Trident is offering a special promo to celebrate the launch. Trident will add 10% to the first five players who win the $112,500 jackpot at King Neptune's Casino or Trident Lounge during the month of November. The extra 10% will bring the first five lucky player's Tomb Raider Jackpot win to $123,750. Players who visit the casinos' websites to take advantage of the Tomb Raider launch will find continuous promotions and introductory offers.

Speculation on GBP sterling 170 million deal

According to The Times, the online poker operation that Sportingbet.com is courting (see last week's InfoPowa bulletin) is Paradise Poker...and Party Poker's predecessor as top online poker site is not coming cheaply.

Sportingbet, is apparently in talks to acquire Paradisepoker, an online poker firm, for more than GBP sterling 170 million. The acquisition would almost double the size of Sportingbet, whose shares are traded on the Alternative Investment Market. It has a market value of GBP 229 million.

Sportingbet announced last week that it was in “advanced discussions” about a “potential substantial acquisition of an online poker business”.

It did not name the company it is buying, but The Times claims it has learned that the target is Tropical Paradise, which operates the Paradisepoker website from Costa Rica. The site has been on a publicity drive in Britain this year and launched a series of advertisements featuring the model Caprice.

Industry sources said that the founders of Tropical Paradise had been trying to sell the business for several months.

Last week, Sportingbet, founded in 1998 by bookmaker Mark Blandford, said its acquisition would be “significantly earnings enhancing” although it warned it was not certain a deal would be agreed.

Sportingbet was recently named the world’s leading Got2bet operator by the industry bible eGaming Review, which put it ahead of Ladbrokes and William Hill. The purchase of Partypoker would give it an even greater lead.

Sportingbet director and spokesman George Hudson told InfoPowa that he could not at this stage confirm the speculation due to Stock Exchange regulatory restrictions.

STOP PRESS: As we went to press, Reuters reports confirmed that Paradise Poker had been the target of Sportingbet's offer, and that a deal has now been signed at a purchase price of $297.5 million (GBP sterling 162.5 million).

The cash will be raised through 90 million pounds of new debt and by issuing 54.5 million new shares at 110 pence each. "Our strategy is to become the world's leading online sports betting and gaming-based entertainment business," said Chief Executive Nigel Payne. "The acquisition of Paradise Poker is a significant step forward in achieving this goal."

Sportingbet also announced pretax profit of 5.4 million pounds for the 16 months to July 31, compared to 1.4 million in the 12 months to March 31, 2003.

Leading Got2bet groups preparing IPOs

The Times reports that two of the world's biggest internet gambling companies are considering initial public offerings (IPOs) in London, the larger of which could go straight into the blue-chip FTSE 100 index. iGlobalMedia and Cassava Enterprises are based in the same building in Gibraltar, but there is no connection between them.

IGlobalMedia, best known for its PartyPoker website, is controlled by a small number of private shareholders, including Ruth Parasol, its head of international business development. The company is estimated to achieve earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of about GBP sterling 190 million (around $350 million).

Experts have opined that, given the company's rapid rate of growth, it should be able to command a valuation of well over GBP 2 billion in an IPO, giving it automatic entry to the FTSE 100. The appointment during the summer of Richard Segal, the former Odeon Cinemas boss, as chief executive has heightened speculation of an IPO.

Cassava, whose 888.com website sponsors Middlesbrough football club, is headed by John Anderson, who also runs Burford, the property firm. The company, which has Ebitda of between $80 million and $100 million, is controlled by two pairs of Israeli brothers. The majority shareholders are the Shaked brothers.

Encouraging news and views from the States...

The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that when Congress returns for a lame-duck session after the election, an eight-year quest to restrict or ban Internet gambling is likely to remain unfulfilled.

In 1996, when lawmakers first sought to control Internet gambling, 30 Web sites received bets totaling $30 million.

This year, more than 1,800 Web sites are projected to accept about $7 billion in wagers, according to BetonSports.com.

By 2010, the Internet gambling market is expected to grow to $18.4 billion.

After the election, lawmakers are expected to focus on approving a budget for next year and steer clear of controversial legislation such as Internet gambling restrictions.

But Sen. Jon Kyl has been spearheading efforts to crack down on Internet gambling since 1996 and may try again next year.

"I wouldn't bet the mortgage that (Internet gambling restrictions) will pass this year, but his interest in this issue will not go away," Kyl spokesman Scot Montrey said.

The last congressional action on Internet gambling occurred more than a year ago when the Senate Banking Committee voted 19-0 on July 31, 2003, to approve restrictions Kyl proposed.

Congress appeared to have plenty of time to get a bill curtailing Internet gambling to President Bush's desk.

The House voted 319-104 on June 10, 2003, to outlaw the use of credit cards, checks and other bank instruments to pay for Internet bets.

The original version of Kyl's legislation was similar to the House bill. But the Senate Banking Committee added a provision to prevent states from authorizing online wagers within their borders. That immediately drew the opposition of the American Gaming Association, which complained the Kyl bill would favor Indian gaming and the pari-mutuel industry over mainstream casinos.

"The absence of consensus with respect to what is legal and what is carved out is going to continue to create problems," said Dan Walsh, a lobbyist for the Interactive Gaming Council, which represents online wagering companies.

So Congress is unlikely to ever approve restrictions or a ban on Internet gambling, Walsh said. What's likelier, he said, is that Congress may pass legislation to regulate Internet gambling.

That was what Rep. John Conyers proposed March 12, 2003, when he introduced a bill to create a federal commission to study the licensing and regulation of companies taking bets online.

But Conyers' bill attracted only three co-sponsors, including Rep. Shelley Berkley of Nevada and would have to be re-introduced in the new Congress next year to stay alive.

Joseph Kelly, a business law professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo, agreed with Walsh that Conyers' proposal has a better chance.

Kelly noted that Britain is on the verge of regulating online wagering.

"It's going to be very difficult to argue that Internet gambling can't be regulated successfully if the British can do it," Kelly said.

The following InfoPowa bulletin is compiled from a press release received from Intercasino this morning...

Online casino launches V.6 software from Cryptologic

Top online brand InterCasino this week announced the launch of what it claims is "...the most sophisticated gaming software platform now available on the Internet".

The casino's software is supplied by developer CryptoLogic of Canada, and this newly developed Version 6 software adds new features and exciting games to their multi-award winning platform.

The new games include British Pontoon and world exclusive Fruit Machines, as well as, Las Vegas Downtown favorites like Casino Solitaire, Casino War; and the Latest Las Vegas strip sensations, Super Fun 21 and Bonus Video Poker.

The high-tech software suite also brings with it an improved game menu that allows players an in-game preview of games before loading them. Complementing the menu is an enhanced pop-up notification system, which better keeps players aware of new products and game upgrades.

“Version 6 keeps our technology one-step ahead of the competition,” says casino manager Ryan Hartley. “We are committed as a casino to innovation in the industry and always offer our players the best casino experience online!”

Exploiting the Donald bid?

Casino Fortune had tongues wagging with the hype surrounding their $400 million bid for a share in Donald Trump's troubled gambling interests. Trump dismissed their offer some time back but players who visited the Fortune site this week report that the Sunny Group are apparently still using the Trump image to promote themselves. One online gambler reported that a person called J.Stacie claimed that she was fired by Donald Trump as the casino's manager recently and that Casino Fortune has hired her to be its spokesperson. To celebrate the "bid," she is apparently offering all existing players 100% match bonuses. That all smacks of flogging a dead horse to us....

$85,600 Cash Paid to All Slots Online Casino Winner

All Slots Casino.com, a member of the Jackpot Factory online casino group, was celebrating the first Tunnzamunni progressive jackpot win this week.

Player JanieP scored a very cool $85,600 windfall on the new progressive, adding to a $43 000 she won four years ago on the Cash Splash progressive, and joining a select group of online gamblers who have cracked a progressive more than once.

Jackpot Factory casinos added the new Tunzamunni progressive to their games mix just over a month ago. This exciting game is Microgaming's first nickel slot designed to take jackpot enthusiasts on a thrilling jungle adventure. Tunzamunni is a 3-reel, 1 line, 5 coin game with a progressive jackpot that is re-set at 10 000 credits after each jackpot win.

When asked how she felt when she realized she'd won, Janie replied, "My husband was actually playing. He was so excited (when he won) that he woke me up. He had dreamt about winning the night before and even saw the 3 sevens in his vision."

Although she has now won big on both Cash Splash and Tunzamunni progressives, Janie is still trying her luck on her favorite progressive - Major Millions. She told Jackpot Factory, "we want the BIG ONE!"

Aussie businessman the new owner

Troubled Betcorp, the subject of several recent InfoPowa bulletins as it struggled with management changes, posted the last chapter in the disposal of ex-subsidiary Sportsbet this week.

Australian media reported that Betcorp has sold its Australian-based brand Sportsbet to an Australian businessman called John McDonald.

The decision to sell the brand was necessitated by a ruling of the Northern Territory Licensing Commission which issued Betcorp with a notice questioning the company’s right to a license last month.

The decision of the Licensing Commission occurred after a change in Betcorp’s structure resulted in Bill Scott, a reportedly convicted racketeer, becoming one of its largest shareholders. The original granting of a license for Sportingbet was done on condition that Mr Scott could not acquire control of the company.

John McDonald has purchased the company for an undisclosed amount, and NT Licensing Commission objections to the licensing has now been dropped.

However, a new condition has been imposed, stipulating that the site may not have any links to other gambling sites. The chairman of the NT Licensing Commission John Withnall said of the purchasing process: "Sportsbet had to show us that its structure was completely separate to Betcorp…we are satisfied that Mr McDonald privately and personally financed that purchase and he is the owner of Sportsbet."

Betcorp have just recorded a loss for the financial quarter ending in September, following the sale of Sportsbet. The company have attributed factors such as restructuring costs, write-offs of abandoned acquisitions and costs associated with the selling of Sportsbet for the downturn in results.

Betting exchange launches legal action

The Dutch state monopoly grip on lottery outfit De Lotto is being challenged for the second time on ground that it contravenes EU laws.

Betting exchange group Betfair has revealed that it is to contest the Dutch Government’s granting of an exclusive license to Dutch lottery operators, De Lotto, claiming that it contravenes EU laws on government gambling monopolies.

Reporting this week, the Racing Post disclosed that legal proceedings will soon be filed, following the Dutch government's rejection of Betfair’s application for a license to operate in the country. The betting exchange was allegedly kept waiting for over a year for a decision.

“Betfair believes that EU law requires the Dutch government to properly consider Betfair’s request for a licence,” Betfair’s general counsel, Justin Hubble told the press. “Simply renewing De Lotto’s exclusive licence after over a year of delay tactics and without due consideration is not only improper legally but also of detriment to the Dutch public who are a captive market for a highly uncompetitive monopoly offering. Censorship of this nature designed to protect monopolists from competition should be challenged.”

Betfair is also expected to attack moves by De Lotto to have it permanently excluded from accepting sports bets from the Netherlands. “We are hopeful that our challenge will result in the Dutch government looking again at the way it grants sports betting licences,” Hubble added.

Ladbrokes and De Lotto have previously clashed in the courts.

New survey shows that cool Britannia likes the adult sites

Latest research conducted by NetValue, an Internet usage monitoring company, shows that British Internet users are primarily interested in adult and gambling websites.

Over a third of Internet users in the British Isles, some 3,6 million people - visit adult websites and 40 percent of the top 6,000 sites are X-rated, according to The Register in reporting the survey.

Two million Netizens in Britain are now visiting gambling websites...and the number is doubling every four months.

Elsewhere, the research showed there are ten million home Internet users in Britain - an increase of 15 percent over the previous six months. And they're spending even more time online - up from nine minutes a day in December 1999 to 12 minutes a day in May.

Zone4Play signs up Avago for Hi Lo game

Zone4Play Inc, a developer and provider of multi-platform interactive game applications and solutions, announced today that its Hi-Lo game can now be played by individuals who enjoy iTV gambling and are members of Avago TV Channel aired on the BSkyB network in the United Kingdom. Avago, with over 125,000 registered users, is one of the most popular play-for-real channels in the United Kingdom. The Gaming Channel will also make the game available to its five partner channels on the BSkyB platform.

"Launching our new Hi-Lo game on the Avago channel and the five other partner channels will enable us to extend our games solutions to the subscribers on these six channels," said Idan Miller, Zone4Play VP of Marketing and Sales. "Our success in offering game and gaming solutions to key industry operators allows Zone4Play to expand its subscriber base and, through revenue-sharing agreements, increase our shareholder value."

All change at Royal Dutch
Royal Dutch Casino has been the subject of player complaints recently, and after some fencing and footwork with this outfit InfoPowa has established that the formerly IQ Ludorum powered casino is in the midst of a change of ownership.

That will include a change of software, although the new owners, who are rather coy about their identity but seem to be in Miami, Florida cannot yet say who will get their business.

We can never understand why some casinos do not communicate more honestly and openly with their players when this sort of radical change occurs...unless it has something to do with paying their clients! The new owners have provided contact details but were not clear on their intentions regarding players awaiting payment from the previous regime - it is to be hoped that they will behave honourably in that regard, and players with outstanding amounts are urged to contact them through the casino Support.

Short lived
Cape Town, South Africa based Leopard Rock Casino and its sterling counterpart Golden Circle Casino have also folded with little fanfare. It is understood that this is not a financial problem, but that the group is leaving the industry, and all outstanding player accounts will be paid. The casinos were powered by RTG software and had been operational for little more than a year.

The Irish are coming...live

Reports this week suggest that major bookmaker Paddy Power will be entering the competitive online poker room field, although we do not yet have any indication of what software they have chosen to spearhead their attempt. The Irish Sunday Business Post reports that Paddy Power is set to offer online poker as part of the company's expansion of its internet activities which are becoming increasingly profitable for the Irish company. The online poker facility will match up players with other users online in a real live game, and is expected to be available by the end of the year or early in 2005.

“Online poker is a logical extension of our current activities. We hope to have it ready in the coming months,” said a spokesman. Financial results this year for the online division of the company have been strong this year. For the first half, operating profits were valued at EUR 3.6 million, far exceeding the original forecast of EUR 1.8 million for the entire year. The online casino section of the site is believed to have contributed EUR 1 million.

The availability of poker should help boost revenues at Paddy Power's online division.

A great newbie poker story

We've just heard a story to warm the cockles of your heart about a newbie who truimphed in an online poker tournament earlier this month. It serves as a great encouragement to the many new poker players who have been attracted to the game by its huge media coverage in recent times.

Using the "handle" Zxnm" the 31-year-old cool and collected player is an Irish scaffolder who won the first Betfair online poker tournament. With a winning hand of a pair of tens he sealed a victory over more than 600 entrants and took home a GBP sterling 21,000 prize, a fifth of the total GBP 100,000 prize money, with a luxury trip for two to the Melbourne Cup in Australia next month.

“Betfair’s tournament was really great and it’s brilliant and fantastic that I won,” he said. “The small Euro 5 and Euro 10 tourneys are a great way to get experience and to learn the game. If the cards fall right, anyone can win it - everyone has a chance.”

Zxnm is a newbie who won his place in Betfair’s tournament through a GBP 10 single table satellite. He has only been playing Texas Hold’em for a year and had previously played in only one satellite tournament.

Sleepless nights for these owners...

Although it has not been fully operational for very long, the forum Insomniacs Lounge has already gathered a strong following and useful exchanges have been found on it's pages.

Operations were brought to a temporary standstill this week, however when a shocking and criminal act of hacker vandalism by as yet unknown crooks destroyed the forum content.

The owners have revealed that part of that content referred to publicly available information on Virtual Casino personnel, and critical comment based on personal experiences with the notorious Prism Casino, believed to have a close association with Virtual. The suggestion is denied by Virtual, which says that its apparently close relationship is, as was the case with Cirrus Casino in a past issue merely a case of lending a helping hand to the operation.

Arousing suspicion but perhaps coincidentally, it is alleged that a Virtual manager called Amit Jain was in contact with Insomniac's owners in the same timeframe, requesting that they remove the material and prevail upon the owner of Gambling911 to do the same (911 was also carrying the information) It is reported that Jain suggested to the Insomniac owners that they may like to enter into a covert partnership with Virtual in a new portal operation, an offer which was declined.

Jain has denied any involvement in the destruction of Insomniac's forum, and reportedly suggested to the owners that it could have been "ex-Virtual staff" in Costa Rica. And as we were going to press news was coming in that another ezboard had been hacked and destroyed. The disgraceful incidents have underlined yet again how important it is for portal owners to maintain adequate protection on their sites and back up all material.

Holland Casino tourney the biggest in Europe?

From November 6 until 13, 2004, the Holland Casino Amsterdam will host what they claim is the biggest poker tournament in Europe - The Master Classics of Europe - for the thirteenth time.

Over eight days, the best poker players from all over the world (including the US, France, Great Britain, Austria, and Germany) will try to outplay each other at the tournament.

Compared to previous years, this year's tournament is even bigger. 270 players will compete compared to 220 last year. The prize money has increased as well: Last year's prize fund was over EUR 1.4 million and this has been increased by EUR 63,000.

The Master Classics of Poker is made up of six different tournaments in which the poker games Texas Hold'em and Omaha are played. Each tournament requires an entry fee that varies from EUR 220 to EUR 5,000.

The tournaments start each day at 2 p.m. The prize funds depend on the number of players in each tournament. One percent of the total prize fund will be deducted and awarded to the "high hand of the day," which is the highest possible hand at the end of the tournament. This year, EUR 63,000 will be reserved as prize money for players ending at places 19 through 27 in the rankings.

The "main tournament" of the week, the Lido Poker Tournament, has a buy-in of EUR 5,000 and will be held for three days from Wednesday, November 10 through Friday, November 12. The winner will receive the total amount of the combined buy-in fees. Last year, the first prize of the Lido Poker Tournament was EUR 243,540.

Helping the kids - 700 players to compete in No Limit Hold Em

PartyPoker.com is to partner with ESPN Radio 710 and the Bicycle Casino in the First Annual ESPN Radio 710 Mason & Ireland Celebrity Poker Party on November 14.

Up to 700 participants are expected to compete in the No-Limit Hold 'em tournament for a guaranteed $25,000 first prize. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles. Steve Mason and John Ireland, hosts of ESPN Radio 710's The Big Show with Mason & Ireland will host the tournament, which will include numerous celebrity players and up to 700 KSPN listeners and Childrens Hospital doctors.

The cost to buy into the tournament is $200 plus a $30 entry fee and players have the option to buy in multiple times should they be eliminated early.

The prize pool will be determined by the number of entries and cash prizes will be awarded to the top 45 positions based on order of finish. The first place winner will receive approximately forty percent of the total prize pool with a guaranteed minimum of $25,000. Fifteen percent of the prize pool will be donated to the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles.

The latest operational statistics on Party Poker, which is rumoured to be about to go public in the UK make for interesting reading. Launched in August 2001, it now boasts more than five million users. The site typically hosts more than 65,000 simultaneous players playing an assortment of live classic poker games including Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi/Low, and Seven Card Stud and single and multi table tournaments.

Internet players can make a difference by posting

Associated Press carried an interesting story this week on using the Internet to take advantage of one of it's true powers: the ability to let users collectively decide whether to trust a product, service or individual. And it says a quarter of Americans online do just this. In the online gaming scene posters have been doing it for years, and it's very necessary as a protective measure against some of the sharks swimming in these waters. The AP report comments that such reputation systems are found on sites like eBay, where members rate fellow buyers and sellers, and Amazon.com, where customers review books and other items. Other sites are devoted to rating consumer products, movies and even schoolteachers.

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 26 percent of adult Internet users have posted such ratings. More experienced and active users were more likely to have done so, as were men and younger adults.

"The more voices that are in the mix, ... the better off everybody is," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew group. "There's more wisdom in groups than there are in individuals no matter how expert they are."

Rainie said online reputation systems let users exploit the two-way capabilities of the medium and help them "feel like they are contributing to other people's decisions."

The telephone-based survey of 1,399 Internet users was conducted May 14 to June 17 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Time to get on over to your favourite message board ....

GBP 285,000 hit on top online casino

A British grandmother has had a life-changing turn of fortune - she won more than 500,000 US dollars the first time she ever played at an online casino.

Karen Gibson, 48, won the equivalent of around GBP 285,000 with only her second 3 dollar bet on a virtual slot machine. The cafe worker, who has four children and four grandchildren, did not realise just how much she had won as she did not know the exchange rate.

She told reporters: “I was totally bored and was looking at holidays on the internet when the 888.com (Casino On Net) advert popped up, so I thought I would have a little go.”

She then registered with the online casino, bought 50 dollars-worth of credits and played the Millionaire Maker virtual “slot machine” which costs 3 dollars a spin.

And on her second spin, she won 503,698.38 dollars – a randomised computer-generated jackpot funded by players all over the world.

Mrs Gibson, married to driver Brian, has barely eaten since she hit the jackpot last Friday night.

She has not decided if she will give up work but will not be moving from her two-bedroomed bungalow. The couple are keen on holidaying and will look after their children aged 27 to 16 as well.

But she has few other spending plans while her good fortune is still sinking in.

She said: “I just cannot believe it. I’m sure the kids will all buy new cars. They have always come to us for money over the years and I’ll see the joy of them spending it.”

The Middlesbrough Football Club fan (C.O.N. has interests in the club) was presented with the mammoth cheque by her favourite player Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and his strike partner Mark Viduka at the club’s training ground this week.

The impressed Dutchman passed on his congratulations, adding: “We’re going to have to have to get online.”

Matt Robinson, marketing manager for 888.com, said Karen was the biggest female online winner yet, adding “We see winners as good news and quite simply, the bigger the better."

BetCRIS attack was ultimately their downfall

InfoPowa was pleased to report the arrest earlier this year of a Russian DDoS group following an international investigation, and this week an article in the LA Times revealed some fascinating and almost 007-like details on the bust.

The attackers' downfall started innocuously enough with standard criminal assaults and extortion demands on the BetCRIS site. They chose the wrong guy, because owner Mickey Richardson decided to fight them and brought in Sacramento expert Barrett Lyon in the absence of help from the Costa Rican authorities. Lyon had successfully consulted for a number of gambling operations facing similar problems and he eventually devised a formidable technological shield that protected Richardson's site. During the process, Lyon's team often found themselves fighting technical duels with the extortionists who would launch counter measures to their efforts.

The defenses held. But Lyon was already thinking about offense, and he embarked on a daring Internet undercover project worthy of James Bond himself. He turned spy, remotely tracking the crooks and inserting his fictional would-be DDoS persona into IRC channels where he built up a profile as a bot program author from Vancouver, Canada, who had 250 machines under his control. He watched as chat participants monitored attacks on Microsoft.com and BetCRIS.com.

During hours of online talks from January to March of this year, Lyon ingratiated himself with the crooks and communicated with them.

One, nicknamed "eXe," began making mistakes. He logged on from his home Internet service provider. A private file transfer gave away his true Internet address. And as late-night conversations turned social, he let slip his real first name — Ivan — and that he was a 21-year-old college student in Russia.

Overcoming territorial enforcement reservations Lyon started helping the British National High-Tech Crime Unit following increasing attacks on European sites by the Russian hackers. In a meeting in Los Angeles with the FBI and British agents, Lyon passed along what he and his team had learned. "They were of significant assistance," a senior police officer confirmed.

The ultimate "gotcha" came shortly after the L.A. meeting, when the hacker eXe used that same handle on an IRC network that listed a private e-mail address for him. Other records showed that the domain name in that e-mail address—"security-system.cc" — was owned by an Ivan Maksakov.

Armed with the results from the extorted money trail and Lyon's information, the British authorities went to the Russian Interior Ministry and suggested several arrests, including that of Maksakov, who lived in Saratov. In late July, police picked him up, along with a 23-year-old St. Petersburg man and a 24-year-old in Stavropol. Two other suspects are being sought.

Most known members of the ring are students who communicated entirely online, Interior Ministry spokesman Anatoly Platonov said.

The group had taken in hundreds of thousands of dollars in extortion money, and including lost profits at the bookmakers, at least two major banks and other targets, the ring caused about $90 million in damage.

Lyon has mixed feelings about the sting against Maksakov, who told Lyon he made only $2,000 a month for fairly sophisticated work. "It's not going to get better with one or two kids put in prison," Lyon said.

But that's good for his new business, Prolexic Technologies Inc., which is based in Hollywood, Fla. His sting operation for BetCRIS produced a dozen clients. Prolexic is on track to bring in $2 million this year.

DDoS crooks threaten reputations

The DDoS criminals have added a new element to their attacks on Internet gambling companies...in addition to the customary threat to paralyse a site, they are promising to conduct porno campaigns in the name of the victim in order to destroy its reputation, reports the Financial Times.

This week, a leading UK online betting company was threatened with a child pornography smear campaign unless it paid out several thousand euros.

The threat to Blue Square takes attacks by cyber criminals on internet companies to a new level. Their usual tactics have been to paralyse websites and thus halt trading by sending thousands of bogus requests for information to them, making them impossible for the public to access.

The companies are then contacted by the hackers and told they will be attacked again unless they pay. In July, the UK's Hi-Tech Crime Unit and their Russian counterparts arrested suspected ringleaders of a blackmail gang in raids in Russia.

Blue Square's website was inaccessible for five hours at the start of the week as hackers began bombarding the site. The company was then sent an e-mail demanding that Euro 7,000 (GBP4,860) be paid to an online website, or it would be attacked again with greater severity.

The blackmailers followed this up on the following day with a phone call, threatening to send child pornography e-mails in the company's name, unless the money was paid within two days.

“This takes it on to a different league,” said Peter Pedersen, IT director at Blue Square. “It has upped the ante, the gloves are off. Once child pornography is involved, it changes everything.”

The Hi-Tech Crime Unit is thought to be investigating more than one extortion attempt of this nature. Bookmaker William Hill said its website had been under attack this week too, but it had not received a threat related to child porn.

Individual PC security sadly lacking says report

Internet users at home are not nearly as safe online as they believe, according to a nationwide inspection by researchers. They found most consumers have no firewall protection, outdated antivirus software and dozens of spyware programs secretly running on their computers.

A survey by the National Cyber Security Alliance found that one of the beleaguered home users in the government-backed study had more than 1,000 spyware programs running on his sluggish computer when researchers examined it. Another family's 3-year-old Dell computer was found infected with viruses and more than 600 pieces of spyware surreptitiously monitoring online activities.

The Internet always has had its share of risky neighborhoods and dark alleys. But with increasingly sophisticated threats from hackers, viruses, spam e-mails and spyware, trouble is finding computer users no matter how cautiously they roam online.

The study being released by America Online and the National Cyber Security Alliance found that 77 percent of 326 adults in 12 states assured researchers in a telephone poll they were safe from online threats. Nearly as many people felt confident they were already protected specifically from viruses and hackers.

When experts visited those same homes to examine computers, they found two-thirds of adults using antivirus software that was not updated in at least seven days.

Two-thirds of the computer users also were not using any type of protective firewall program, and spyware was found on the computers of 80 percent of those in the study.

The survey participants all were AOL subscribers selected in 22 cities and towns by an independent market analysis organization.

The alliance, a nonprofit group, is backed by the Homeland Security Department and the Federal Trade Commission, plus leading technology companies, including Cisco Systems, Microsoft, eBay and Dell.

"It is very complicated for the average home user," said Ari Schwartz, an expert on Internet threats for the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington civil liberties group.

"There's a lack of accountability all around, from consumers who don't believe they should have to do this to companies who blame the consumer. It's finger-pointing back and forth," Schwartz said.

Microsoft's chairman, Bill Gates says the company spent nearly $1 billion on its recent upgrade to improve security for customers using the latest version of its Windows software. AOL purchased full-page advertisements in major newspapers this month pledging better security for its subscribers. Dell has begun a campaign to educate customers how to detect and remove spyware themselves.

The government is increasingly involved, too.

The FTC this month filed its first federal court case over spyware. The House overwhelmingly approved two bills to increase criminal penalties and fines over spyware. The Homeland Security Department offers free e-mail tips for home Internet users to keep themselves secure.

Major online poker room links with European land casinos

The worldwide poker phenomenon is making its way into some of the world’s most beautiful casinos in some of the world’s most historic cities as PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) makes its way through Europe.

PokerStars is host to some of the world’s largest online tournaments and the EPT includes poker tour events in Barcelona, London, Paris, Vienna and Dublin.

The Grand Final event will be held March 15-19, 2005 in the majestic Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco. Prize money is expected to be more than EUR 2 million for the final event alone, with well more than EUR 1 million going to the winner.

“Finally, Europe will host a premier poker tour, as the EPT is the first pan-European poker tournament series,” says John Duthie, executive producer of the PokerStars European Poker Tour and the holder of the Ladbrokes Poker Million title. “All across Europe, from casinos to online sites like PokerStars, interest in poker is booming, so it’s only natural to provide a circuit for the serious European poker player.”

Each event will be televised in 2005 as a 90-minute program, and will culminate with the airing of the Grand Final in Monte Carlo. Winners of the preliminary events will win prize packages worth EUR 15,000, including entry into the finals at the elegant Hermitage Hotel in Casino Square, Monte Carlo.

The final event in Monte Carlo will include 10 finalists and runners-up selected from the EPT preliminary events. Those players will then compete for the title of EPT Series 1 Grand Champion.

Players from all over the world will also have an opportunity to play in the Grand Final event. Online satellite tournaments for the Grand Final event in Monaco will be played on PokerStars.com, and winners of those satellite events will receive the same prize package as winners of the individual live events on the tour.

“Our affiliation with the EPT shows that PokerStars truly is the global site where poker players become champions,” said Nolan Dalla of PokerStars. “This year’s EPT champion will join an illustrious list of PokerStars champions, which includes World Series of Poker champs Greg Raymer and Chris Moneymaker, both of whom qualified for the World Series of Poker on PokerStars, and Edgar Skjervold, who won this year’s PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker, which is the largest online poker tournament in the world.”

Charity benefits growing

There was more positive PR for poker this week when the Boston Herald commented that the game might well be the new bingo among the young fund-raising set, and that legions of followers from grandpas to teenagers were enjoying the game.

The report quoted WPT CEO Steve Lipscomb in estimating the number of regular players at a whopping ``50 to 80 million'' - between home, online and casino games and revealed that last week in Massachusetts alone, 100 home games were listed on Homepokergames.com, a site connecting players with local games.

Nearby Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Mashantucket, Conn., reports a poker-revenue leap of 60 percent over last year, with ``almost half the table under 30 (years old),'' according to poker-operations director Kathy Raymond.

But now there's a new twist to the trend, claims the Herald: Charity poker tournaments, run by 20- and 30-somethings, champion everything from high school track teams to religious groups to foundations for diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

"My dad does a lot of charity work, and I see that it's very fulfilling for him,'' said Dracut's Craig Chemaly, 25, a legislative assistant who plays Texas Hold 'Em five times a week, mostly online. "I wondered: How can I combine that (feeling) on a constant basis with something that I love?'' The answer was simple: Start a company that plans and runs charity poker tournaments.

Chemaly could handle the business side but he needed a seasoned pro to host the games. So through the Internet newsgroup rec.gambling.poker, he contacted Roslindale's Ashley Adams, author of the 2003 book 'Winning 7-Card Stud.' Adams is the ``poker guru of Boston,'' according to a north-of-Boston player named Justin, 30.

Chemaly and Adams' month-old business, called Raise It Up, already has four clients, including the Ayer Rotary Club, which plans a $75 buy-in event for 144 people next month to benefit the Loaves & Fishes food pantry, according to ex-Rotary Club president Christopher Lilly, 38. That and other calls came after Adams served as emcee at a tournament that raised $17,000 to benefit a Connecticut chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

"I'm not playing, but I'm winning,'' said Jason Daloia, 32, of Stamford, Conn., a "huge fan of poker'' who organized the MS event.

"If people who play poker on a regular basis gave even one-tenth of 1 percent of what they wager - a tithe of a tithe of a tithe - that would be at least $10 million a year,'' said Adams, 47, who's raised as much as $3,000 at poker soirees at his West Roxbury temple, Hillel B'nai Torah. "It would be good for the game and good for the world.''

Watertown's Michael Zildjian, 30, agrees. Zildjian, like many poker converts, is an avid watcher of ESPN's "World Series of Poker'' and Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown'' as well as Lipscomb's "World Poker Tour.'' He plays a few times a month with friends, at casinos and often online to hone his skills - mostly at partypoker.com and pokerstars.com.

Zildjian recently launched the Waltham-based poker-apparel business GMY Co. The partners are trying to persuade the cultural center connected to their church, St. Stephen's Armenian Apostolic in Watertown, to hold regular Texas Hold 'Em charity tournaments, with a portion of the entrance fees going directly to the facility. GMY would sell its T-shirts and hats at the games and donate a portion of sales to the center.

"Today Poker is the hottest emerging sport in the country,'' Lipscomb said. "The people standing around the rail watching the event (used to be) that no-spring-chicken crowd. Now it's the hippest, coolest crowd you can possibly imagine: male and female - gorgeous.''

Perhaps common sense will prevail at last

Remember that crazy and draconian electronic games law the Greek government passed some time back?

Finally the European Court of Justice, set up in 1952 under the Treaty of Paris, will review the Greek law, dated July 2002, concerning the ban on computer games (including those offered at Internet cafes). The European Commission announced last week that it will take Greece to court over the law.

Avoiding the perils of criminal gambling

The Herald Sun in Australia carried a report this week on a federal government suggestion that school math classes should be used to stop children being caught in "...an explosion of problem gambling."

Community Services Minister Kay Patterson wants to teach secondary students about the odds of becoming a betting loser, says the newspaper and points out that in its first major policy move since the election, the Howard Government is preparing an assault on gambling. More than a quarter of Australia's problem gamblers are under 25.

Senator Patterson said new prevention strategies were needed to stop young people getting hooked and becoming hardcore gamblers for life.

"We might need to tackle them differently to older groups,' Senator Patterson told the Herald Sun.

"Perhaps you could do it in classes with mathematics, in probabilities – so that people could realise the likelihood of them winning. It's one way of showing how mathematics can be applied in everyday life."

Pokerchamps.com is looking cool and is set to launch tomorrow after running in Beta for a while. It looks as if a lot of thought has gone into this site, which is hosted by three times WPT winner Gus Hansen and powered by some pretty impressive proprietary software. Take a look at the 4 in 1 screen feature, wealth of information and freeroll daily tourneys, and the Bonus Cashflow reward system is an interesting and innovative departure from the usual signup bonuses and the hassle these can entail. This offers players a fifty percent rake back with weekly payments - they use an example of 3 hours play a day at $5 and $10 tables delivbering a weekly $100. There's 24/7 Support for the gaming, which includes Texas Hold Em, with Omaha, Omaha Hi Lo, 7 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud Hi Lo to follow. The licensing is Maltese under Pokerchamps Limited. The poker room has not joined any of the existing networks, but will be working with selected gambling sites and is to offer opportunities at WPT, WSOP, Speed Championships & Aussie Millions.

Poker333.com is owned by the African-based Piggs Peak land and online casino people and part of the Prima Poker network, which now boasts 28 poker rooms and some 200 000 regular players. It offers a good range of quality Microgaming poker variants, with full Support. The site presentation is average but has all the facilities you need, and there's a buy $60 and get $30 free first time offer.

Still with poker sites, Boss Media has launched Fastpoker.com which belongs to Penny Lane Holdings out of the British Virgin Islands. Players can gamble in dollars, euros and British pounds on the professionally presented site, where the good quality games are backed by 24/7 email, freefone and livechat Support. The poker room is a sister to a new online casino (see below) from the same group.

Casinocraze.com is owned by Penny Lane Holdings out of BVI and comes with the somewhat dated but still good quality Boss Media gambling suite. The site is well presented and carries 24/7 fully contactable Support with multi-denominational facilities through WebDollar. Take note of the bonusing here - Full matchplay on signups maxed at $100, and then $50 on a second deposit and $25 on a third.

Parlay-DCEG have provided the sixty game including progressives gambling suite for Euro777.com which is an English - German language online casino owned by Global Gaming Entertainment of Curacao. The site is well executed and carries Support and a good range of Euro-based financial options that includes Moneybookers, PaySafe and EasyDebit. The Support was responsive when we checked it out, and seems to be based in Spain. On offer is a fifty percent signup maxed at Euro 250.

New from RTG for operator Mulle International Corporation is Miss Millions.com registered in Panama City. This average looking site carries all facilities such as fully contactable Support , 8 language options and a good selection of financing options together with the standard and good quality download RTG gambling suite. We believe there are other casino operations in this group, notably Fortuna, Lucky Fortuna and High Rollers Casino Club. Players should pay very careful attention to the T&C's, which have a high WT and a cap on withdrawals.

Got your Barcelona air tickets yet?

With under 2 weeks to go, EiG 2004 - The European i-Gaming Congress & Expo, 8-10 November 2004, Hotel Melia Sitges, near Barcelona, Spain - is drawing ever closer.

Interesting and provocative conference sessions and speakers will highlight EiG's seminars, while innovative exhibitors show their latest products and services - all of which adds up to the most productive and educational event for Europe's I-gaming industry.

Visit http://www.eigexpo.com/2004/?page=exdirectory for a list of participating companies

Footnote

The InfoPowa coven sends Salems and best wishes for a terrifying Halloween to all our readers.

It doesn't look like an easy ride...

The British government published it's long awaited but controversial Gambling Bill this week, designed to dramatically update gambling laws in the United Kingdom.

The Bill was immediately a focus of attention and debate between supporters, detractors and government spokesmen, and made headline news in mainstream media across the world.

Critics seemed mainly concerned with the implications for land-based gambling through large US investment in regional Vegas-style casinos, and with what they perceived to be the threat of increased addictive and underage gambling. Internet gambling, which is to be legalised under stringent regulations, did not appear to be the main point of discussion.

Former welfare minister Frank Field warned there would be "no turning back" once the door had been opened to the US giants. Supersized "regional casinos", which ministers believe will regenerate run-down areas, would no longer have to be sited in "permitted" areas and will be open to the public rather than operating as 24-hour membership clubs. Others will be designated "large" and "small" where lower prize money can be played for on slot machines.

Publishing the bill, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Tessa Jowell said: "It is nearly forty years since Parliament last had the opportunity to take a serious look at our gambling laws and it's not just attitudes that have changed since then. The technological revolution has touched all our lives and the gambling industry is no exception.

"Internet gambling and roulette machines in bookmakers are just two examples of where laws introduced nearly ten years before the first home computer hit the shelves are no longer able to protect children or vulnerable people properly."

Lord McIntosh, the minister responsible for the new legislation, said the critics were missing the point of the reforms. "I've never known a bill be so misunderstood," he said. "More than 90 per cent of this bill is about [new] protection and not about casinos. It's about keeping out crime and cheating and introducing new protections for children and adults who may be vulnerable to problem gambling."

Frank Field, the former welfare minister, said on GMTV: "I think the government is off its rocker thinking, even if it was the first year of a parliament, that it would actually get this through. And once they actually let this tide of big money from America come in in this way there will be no turning it back".

Under the bill, which on Tuesday had its first reading in parliament, a tough new gambling regulator will be established with the power to hit operators with fines if they step out of line.

The bill will also cover internet gambling and attempt to create a regulatory environment that encourages online gaming sites to be based onshore.

More than two thirds of people in Britain have gambled in some way over the past year, according to a recent government NOP survey - 71% of the 2,945 adults quizzed.

The gambling industry - dominated by back street bookies before the 1961 Betting and Gaming Act legalised casinos and off-course bets - is worth billions of pounds without the vigorous promotion the Bill will open the floodgates for.

A total GBP sterling 63.8 billion was staked on gambling in the UK in 2002-2003, at casinos, gaming machines, horse and dog racing, football pools, scratchcards, and the National Lottery, according to a Business in Sport and Leisure report by Ernst and Young. Of this, operators retained GBP sterling 7.8 billion after paying up winnings.

There are 131 casinos currently operating in Britain - more than in any other European country bar France - and some 250,000 gaming machines with an estimated GBP sterling 10 billion fed into them each year, The Gaming Board for Great Britain said.

Internet gambling is also on the rise with an estimated four million Britons now betting online each month. Some 4.2 million people visited gambling or sweepstakes websites such as Casino Tropez or The National Lottery in September - 16 percent of the total online audience in Britain for that month, a new report by Internet research company Nielsen//NetRatings reveals.

Gabrielle Prior, European Internet Analyst, said the Bill may spark a surge in the number of online gamblers. "The new government initiative to change the gambling laws in the UK will no doubt make gambling more accessible to consumers.

Fair Gaming Advocate offers advice to players and operators

eCOGRA Fair Gaming Advocate Tex Rees's latest report reveals that relatively few disputes concerning the 49 Seal casinos have been filed and those that have been made have been quickly resolved - the majority within benchmark-setting timeframes for the industry of less than forty eight hours.

In the current report from the player protection body which enforces self-imposed regulation, the Advocate notes that a total of 88 complaints had been received over the past year, although 14 of these were in respect of non-eCOGRA casinos.

Of the remaining 74, most were lodged over the past three months, perhaps an indication of the growing profile of the organisation and the generous coverage of its activities by leading Got2bet portals.

"Of the 74 disputes that we received for approved casinos, 80 percent were made up of bonus and cash-in queries," Rees reports. "On the cash-in side most were concerns regarding what the player felt was slow payouts, but on investigation mainly turned out to be associated with slow response to requests for ID verification which were easily resolved."

"There were 25 complaints on bonus issues, and many of these could be attributed to misunderstandings by either players or Support agents that were quickly ironed out. In the sixteen percent of cases where the casino was at fault the issues were immediately redressed, and follow-up action suggests that remedial measures were also introduced to avoid recurrences.

"Seal casinos are reporting increases in activity, and bearing in mind the massive volume of business transacted each month by these very popular casinos, the remarkably low level of problems seems to indicate that the eGAPs are being conscientiously applied."

The success of the mediations is often reflected in some very positive player comments on public message boards.

The Advocate has a few words of advice for players and operators alike.

"Based on my experience in these mediations to date, my advice to players is to read the T&C's very carefully for each and every casino that they play at, as these can vary greatly from one to another. Players should also appreciate that the requests for verification documents are for their protection as well as the casino's and that this is one of the FATF's guidelines to help combat money laundering, not a ploy by legitimate casinos to slow payments. Players should also check their email filters, where there is a possibility that some responses from casinos are being trapped."

Turning to operators, she said, "It is essential that operators take great care to ensure that information about new promotions and/or changes to their T&C's have been thoroughly briefed and communicated to CSR's and the players. Simply by improving in this area, most complaints could be obviated."

The scheduled World Trade Organisation dispute panel meeting between the United States and Antigua-Barbuda regarding the WTO Got2bet finding was moved to Wednesday this week without explanation. As we went to press there was no further news.

Response to action due this week

Although no news was available as we went to press, the U.S. Department of Justice was scheduled to respond this week to a lawsuit claiming restrictions on online gaming ads violate First Amendment protections of free speech.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, La., on behalf of Internet portal Casino City, challenges a 2003 DOJ letter to the National Association of Broadcasters, the Magazine Publishers of America, the Independent Press Association and the National Newspaper Association, among others, warning that ads for offshore gaming could result in prosecution for "aiding and abetting" illegal activities.

Attorney Barry Richard of Tallahassee, Fla., who successfully managed the litigation that won Florida's electoral votes for President Bush in 2001, is lead attorney in the Casino City case. The Baton Rouge- based portal continues to run ads from Internet gambling sites located outside the U.S., Richard said. "[The DOJ] is not regulating gambling--they're regulating the advertising of gambling, which is legal," he added. "There are more effective ways to accomplish their purpose."

Congress and the DOJ have been struggling with ways to regulate Got2bet. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1998 on a Louisiana case struck down a ban on broadcast advertising of gambling, creating an opening for the Internet suit.

While Casino City is the only plaintiff in the new case, other online casinos are seeking to ease the federal crackdown. One of the largest sportsbook sites, U.K. portal BETonSports, is conducting a U.S. ad campaign and a 20-city tour of conferences related to Net gambling. The work includes TV and print ads urging consumers to write to their congressmen on the issue.

Online casino advertising jumped from 11th place in Internet ad impressions to No. 5 in 2002, according to Jupiter Research. Online casino ad spending was $10 million in 2003, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Julie Sidwell's work continues

Much respected and missed Got2bet mediator, the late Julie Sidwell would undoubtedly have been proud of her husband, Herb this week as he re-launched Gambling Grumbles as a private venture under the domain www.gambling-grumbles.com

Herb's PR person Ms. T. J. Fleming said, "Our new portal has a variety of interesting games, puzzles and other unique features designed to attract new players and casinos.

"We like to think of our new site as being a 'safe harbor of protection' for new players against rogue casino operators and a place where player - casino disputes can be amiably resolved between the parties."

The new site features a complete archive of Julie Sidwell's previously published articles along with many of her unpublished works. Players and casino owners alike will find her writings entertaining and helpful in developing method and procedures for the prevention of disputes.

Naturally, the Gambling-Grumbles Column on the site will publish the results of disputes in a similar fashion as did Julie, although Herb says, "It is doubtful we will find anyone capable of projecting Julie's extraordinary style of writing that allowed her to be entertaining and often humorous while dealing with difficult negotiations between players and casino management."

Gambling-Grumbles.com will work hand and hand with existing Player-Advocate sites in the attempt to prevent the proliferation of "would be" tricksters and eliminate current operators known to utilize questionable gaming practices to take advantage of new and unseasoned players.

The site will only advertise casinos that are willing to enter into negotiations when presented with legitimate player grumbles. In turn, Gambling-Grumbles will reciprocate in kind by presenting both sides of all Player/Casino disputes.

"Where gambling and money is involved it would be extremely naive to think misunderstandings are not going to occur." Sidwell said and added, "With this in mind, the Gambling-Grumbles free service will be available to help bring about swift and amicable resolutions."

The bi-weekly GRUMBLES editorial will help new players stay abreast of ongoing activities within the industry. The staff hopes as the membership grows and the advertising banners of questionable casino operators are excluded from the site, that reputable casino operators will "...scrutinize more carefully where they spend their advertising budgets!"

Financials delayed until deal signed

British Got2bet group Sportingbet.com was in the news this week when it delayed the publication of its latest financial results pending the finalisation of a major deal that could see the group acquiring an as yet unidentified major online poker site with a large player base.

The postponement of their most recent financial results had little immediate effect as Sportingbet stock continued to rise, by up to 3p a share following the announcement. Currently valued at 103p per share, the rise is an indicator of both the success of Sportingbet and the strength of the online poker industry.

Spokesmen for the company told financial media that there may be the need for a substantial increase in venture capital surrounding the acquisition, and confirmed that Sportingbet has its sights on a major Internet poker operation in order to better take advantage of the extraordinary growth of the online poker sector, which continues unabated.

Sportingbet is now keen to buy this new site, which would replace their current poker interests. The idea is to purchase a site with a significant membership in order to accommodate their current players, who would then be able to play on virtual tables as and when they wished and with a greater diversity of games and opponents.

The company's financial results were due this week, but with the acquisition deal being apparently close to finalisation, these have been postponed pending a resolution of the bid.

Sportingbet is currently around GBP sterling 36 million in debt, but will raise equity in order to make the purchase. The latest financial results are expected to be in line with those forecast, with operating profit that should be no less than GBP 21.7 million before taking out goodwill and exceptional costs.

Sportingbet CEO Nigel Payne was approached by InfoPowa for the identity of the prospective acquisition but said "At this time we are not able to comment any further, but we will inform you of developments should they occur."

Tournament players listed

Followers of the Professional Poker Tour (PPT) will soon be tuning in to the excitement of this Steve Lipscomb organised tournament.

The PPT is part of the poker projects handled by Lipscomb's World Poker Enterprises, and will fire up on the 9th of November at Foxwoods Resort Casino.

WPT has now published its list of eligible players, with the final count at around the 200 mark. The list includes some of the top names in world poker, with many champions from tournaments including the World Poker Tour, the World Series of Poker and European Poker competition.

The PPT differs from the WPT in that only those who qualify are able to play. Participation is by invite to the most successful poker players on the circuit.

The criteria for eligibility includes: having won or reaching a final table at APT event or championship; by ranking in the top ten point leader table in the WPT Player-of-the-Year rankings; by becoming a member of the Poker hall of Fame; securing a spot on either CardPlayer Magazine's Card Player of the Year Top 10 list, or Poker Europa's Top 10; or by winning or placing highly in the US$10,000 buy in event at the World Series of Poker.

President of WPT Enterprises, Steve Lipscomb, explained the strict rules regarding entry to the PPT: "This qualifying process ensures that the huge television audience will have a chance to consistently see the most exciting, skilled poker played by the sport's All-Stars. The PPT will be a league of poker Titans."

The names of those qualifying include: Doyle Brunson, Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan, Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth, Gus Hansen, Phil Gordon, Men 'The Master' Nguyen, Chris Moneymaker, Antonio Esfandiari, Bobby Baldwin, Daniel Negreanu, Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, David 'Devilfish' Ulliott, Samy Farah, Mel Judah, Scotty Nguyen, Erick Lindgren, Phil 'The Unabomber' Laak, Huck Seed, Tom McEvoy, Layne Flack, Carlos Mortensen, Chip Reese, Erick Seidel, Lyle Berman, Kathy Liebert, T. J. Cloutier, Ted Forrest and Linda Johnson.

The event in November will mark the first year of the Professional Poker Tour, which will feature five US$500,000 free-roll tournaments. After Foxwoods, the tour moves to Bellagio in Las Vegas, the Goldstrike Casino in Tunica, Commerce Casino in California and back to Las Vegas at The Mirage. The action will be broadcast on the Travel Channel in the US on Wednesdays at 9pm, with more television partners still to be announced.

Royal Dutch heads up
Players are reportedly getting the runaround at IQ Ludorum-powered Royal Dutch Casino, and the way in which clients are being treated is cause for caution. Complaints involve thousands of dollars in non-payment on a series of ridiculous excuses over several months. One player was told that the casino's Costa Rican bank had come under audit and the funds were frozen temporarily, only to be told later that the casino was being completely "reorganized" but that he would be paid "sometime". The casino had not responded to our enquiries at press time.

Evil Israelis?
Judging by the accusations and counter claims flying around a leading portal this week it appeared that Boss Media powered Pharoahs Casino has been targeted by a syndicate of Israeli scamster players. Several posters have been complaining on major fora - not unusual for the audacious - that they have been locked out and deprived of winnings without proof of wrongdoing. Boss Media has remained sternly aloof, assuring the player community through the portal owner that it has a non-specified case against those penalised. Opinions are divided, with many feeling that scam artists have been at work, but that Boss could be more communicative without giving away any secrets on it's anti-fraud measures.

Tropical Garden warning
This Chartwell Tech powered online casino has been giving a genuine player the run-around for some weeks now on a promised bonus and on a payout on another transaction that did not involve a bonus. Exacerbating the problem they are currently ignoring the player's emails. Registered in Guatemala, this operation is probably beyond the reach of most players who may experience similar problems.

Games to rea ch 7.4 million households

BettingCorp UK Ltd., a gaming software provider, and Game On, part of Littlewoods Gaming, inked an agreement this week for the distribution of BettingCorp's Interactive Television (iTV) games and services through Littlewoods' Game On portal, using an integrated solution involving BettingCorp's UltimateOne Technology platform.

The interactive games service can be accessed behind the remote control red button in the United Kingdom through Littlewoods 'Game On' betting and fixed-odds games portal on ITV's Interactive Services Menu - the largest commercial TV channel in the UK. This will be available to Sky digital viewers in approximately 7.4 million British households.

Sky Digital subscribers can use their single Game On Internet account to play any of the games on the interactive service.

BettingCorp's games will be re-skinned and deployed on the UltimateOne system while Littlewoods' OLGA solution will handle the accounts and payment aspects of the service.

"We are excited by the opportunity to collaborate with Littlewoods, one of the most established names in gaming," said Michael Lobel, Chief Executive Officer of BettingCorp "Our continued dedication to the new media gaming business and the pursuit of quality and an unparalleled customer experience are what allowed us to seize this opportunity".

Peter Cuffe, Director of Interactive, Littlewoods Gaming, "2004 has been an exciting year for us. We now have a comprehensive portfolio of games and betting services live on ITVi 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Having explored the three quarter screen game genre, we are now excited to begin introducing full-screen BettingCorp products in order to drive revenue and add another dimension to the ITV viewer experience."

Black and white the corporate colours

It's a new look and a new brand this week for British gambling group Victor Chandler.

In what the company claims is a new "going forward" image, a bright new white logo on black background has been introduced to unite all aspects of the business, which includes vcbet, vcpoker, vccasino and vcgames, into one striking corporate identity.

"Our vision is simple," says marketing director Alan Randall. "It is to be the place where people come for excitement. The brand is the vehicle by which we will deliver our vision, and it's a brand that's elegant and sophisticated and confident, in line with our customers' expectations. It's a brand that's friendly and personal."

VC has grown from a small family run business to giant of the betting industry over the last few decades. "This new branding will help us to punch to our full weight, and to build on our position as the leading independent operator in an increasingly cluttered marketplace," concluded Randall.

Harvard b.y.t's can beat the poker field?

The Harvard Crimson carried a fascinating article this week on student online gambling - mostly on poker.

The byt's (bright young things) interviewed by writer Liz Goodwin seemed pretty balanced in their approach to what many saw as an easy way to earn money whilst in college, although some experts expressed disquiet at the danger of younger players being drawn into addictive behaviour. Many had a schedule which cut down on the gambling on the run-up to important exams.

Playing for anywhere between 10 to 50 hours a week, most claimed to have been successful in not needing to take more traditional jobs to supplement their incomes whilst studying.

There was some arrogance, too - several players spoke of high value buy-ins but were reluctant to disclose the full extent of their winnings. One who took a class at Harvard on the modeling of statistical situations, said that Harvard students generally have the upper hand in online poker. "The average college poker player at Harvard is better than the average player online," he claimed.

Many of the young gamblers said that a knowledge of mathematical probability from college courses has come in handy.

"I'm not sure everyone who does Got2bet are math people but many of them definitely are," said a computer science concentrator and former online gambler. "Harvard students have an advantage because they're good at strategic thinking."

Another student said Got2bet has become much more popular since he started internet gambling as a freshman in 2001. "The most exciting part about doing it at the beginning was that it was something that seemed pretty edgy, but by the time I got out of [Harvard] it seemed like about 60 percent of college males wanted to get into it," he said.

He spent about 50 hours a week gambling online while he attended the College. He said he has scaled back to 20 hours per week in order to accommodate a job in financial services.

New deal signed with mobile technology company

Boss Media announced an interesting deal with mobile technology provider Jadestone AB this week. Boss has taken a 20 percent interest in the company with an option on a further five percent, and will be "assigning" some of their development work to Jadestone.

Jadestone Group AB is a Swedish company that is an international developer of games and technology for mobile phones.

In addition, the company develops online and multiplayer games for various digital channels, often in combination with one another. Among other innovations, the company has developed a unique 3D-platform in Java, which provides the possibility to play skill games in a web-based environment.

Boss Media is initially acquiring 20 percent of the company's shares and holds an option to purchase an additional 5 percent.

The transaction is strategically important for both companies, which immediately gain access to each other's customers and products. An agency agreement was signed between the two companies to increase each company's interest in promoting further sales of the other's products.

"This is an important milestone for us," Peter Bertilsson, President and CEO of Boss Media said. "We gain two things at the same time. One is a unique knowledge about the mobile area, in which it is difficult to keep pace with the rapid technological development for a company such as ours, and the other is that we gain access to know-how in the skill gaming area, which is closely related to our current portfolio technically but not in terms of the end-user experience. In the future, the telephone will be highly important as a distribution channel, both for gambling and entertainment games."

The companies are also entering into a development agreement in which Boss Media is assigning projects to Jadestone for the development of mobile games.

Boss recently announced the outsourcing of certain products to Accenture.

Royal Flush on poker hits the jackpot sweet spot

It's been a great week for New Jersey online gambler VinnieS, who hit a Royal Flush on the Bermuda Poker game over at Sportsbetting.com and gave his bank balance a US $ 194,006.88 boost as a consequence.

Vinnie got lucky with the Royal while playing Bermuda Poker turning his $1 progressive bet magically into a mountain of moolah. We are sure Vinnie, who is in his early 20s, will find good use for his new found wealth. WG-powered Sportsbetting offers networked progressive jackpots on Bermuda Poker, Free Ride and several Slots games

British-based companies follow the US lead

Two important credit card companies in Britain have decided to restrict access to Got2bet sites for users of their cards, following the lead of similar companies in the US over the past few years.

American Express and Citibank give as their main reason concerns about potential fraud, and the risk of their customers running up significant debts.

With UK gambling legislation on the threshold of major reform and updating, the move this week was seen by many industry observers as badly timed and of questionable necessity.

Long, cold nights could attract more players

Swedish businessman Michael Holmberg, an executive with gambling company Expect estimates that as many as six thousand Swedes will be hitting the Internet to gamble in those long, cold Scandinavian winter evenings

Holmberg also revealed that profits in Sweden achieved by this sector are expected to rise by 27 percent a month, as the popularity of Got2bet becomes more established.

Representatives from other companies including Betsson, Unibet and Ladbrokes have confirmed the prediction, stating that they are witnessing a similar trend, with revenues from their Swedish members increasing at a rate similar to that claimed by Holmberg.

Helping create the significant rise in activity is the well publicised successes of Scandinavian players, particularly in the realm of poker. Martin de Kniif won the World Poker Tour in Las Vegas recently, earning himself the equivalent of 21 million Swedish kronor. High achiever stories such as these often prove to be inspirational to others, and this seems to be the case in Sweden and neighbouring states.

Extortionists tell companies "...pay up or face DDoS attacks"

ZD Net UK reported this week that "hackers" are threatening online clearing companies to pay up or face denial-of-service attacks on their Web sites.

Reporting on a security conference held in London, the publication said that credit card firms use clearing companies to authorise consumer transactions from retailers, and according to Richard Starnes, director of incident response for Cable and Wireless, hackers are taking down the Web sites of these companies unless they pay a ransom.

"These attacks are only launched at companies that rely 80 or 90 percent on Internet trading," said Starnes. "And they usually run on thin profit margins. So when [hackers] launch attacks, they hurt and they hurt badly."

Starnes said that by flooding Web sites of clearing houses with data, the attackers automatically blocked databases from sending 'accept' or 'deny' commands back to the retailer. It was this that the hacking groups were preying on, he said.

"The organisations that are carrying out DoS attacks know exactly what they are doing," said Starnes. "It's not limited to Got2bet. There are other vertical markets that are also being targeted."

A spokeswoman from the National High Tech Crime Unit said: "Any company that does all or most of its business online needs to ensure that its security is up to date and they are flexible to deal with attacks because they are at risk."

Starnes hinted that the attacks were coming from Russia and Eastern Europe: "It's safe to say that this falls into the category of the usual suspects."

Last year, online betting companies experienced similar attacks. Alan Paller, the director of research for security organisation SANS recently claimed that every online bookie was being hit with the extortion attacks.

Starnes was speaking at the Secure Computing Conference.

STOP PRESS: As we went to press the following news was coming in:

Two prominent British betting sites have experienced simultaneous outages today, with Tote offline for more than eight hours and counting, while Sporting Bet was offline for more than three hours, the Netcraft monitoring site reports (21.10.04) Netcraft is monitoring the performance of twenty leading UK Internet Gambling Sites, with dynamically updating graphs.

Mobile technology provider working with major communica tions groups

Zone4Play, Inc, a developer and provider of multi-platform interactive game applications and solutions, has launched play-for-fun casino applications on mobile services offered by Sony-Ericsson, O2 and Orange IL. These will be available on over 40 cutting-edge mobile devices produced by Nokia, Motorola, Siemens, Sony-Ericsson and Sharp.

The applications, which feature Zone4Play's award winning graphics, sounds and game logic, are off-line downloadable games, developed in J2ME technology, as well as on-line WAP versions.

In the first implementation of Zone4Play's mobile application on a handset manufacturer's distribution channel, users of Sony-Ericsson handhelds in the UK access the games through the Sony Fun Web-site. The Java applications are available using Orange IL. The WAP applications are available for O2 customers in the UK.

Additionally, Zone4Play soon expects to launch a fully networked solution enabling mobile play-for-real services such as fixed-odds games, skill games and multi-player games.

The online J2ME applications are all "Network Aware", enabling Zone4Play to offer the end-user a true gaming experience. These applications offer the end-user head-2-head games, leader boards and tournaments which encourage a sense of community, while providing operators with full tracking and provisioning capabilities. Most important, they will generate increased air time revenue.

Over the past years, Zone4Play's games also have been released for distribution through selected distributors such as AirG and Power- By-Hand and are available using mobile services offered by Hutchison HK, Mobistar BE, Telecom NZ, Smart, Dialog, India Times, and AT&T US among others.

English race horses could be banned in Betfair fight

The war of words between the Aussie horse racing industry and British betting exchange group Betfair is turning increasingly nasty, with new threats by the former to ban UK racehorses from competing in Australia unless Betfair withdraws.

English horses could be banned from a major racing event in the state of Victoria. The perception is that this latest assault on Betfair is an attempt to focus attention on the objections the racing industry has against UK based online betting exchange Betfair.

The new move is the latest in a long line of increasingly bitter protests against Betfair, and against other international companies which may gain access to the prosperous Australian gambling industry, following the Australian federal government's decision not to impede their entry into the Aussie market.

The threatened ban could take place at one of Victoria's premier races, the Spring Racing Carnival. Currently Betfair has been operating in Australia without a license, while it waits for the approval of its application, and the Chief Executive of Racing Victoria, Robert Nason has revealed that the plan to ban the English horses from the race is intended to bring the current disapproval of Betfair's Australian operations to the attention of British authorities.

Nason said of the plan and his objection to Betfair: "The damage that can be done to this market by a betting exchange operator is so significant that we have to look at extreme action in my view, and we have to bring this to the attention of the British authorities and the British Government. The [Betfair] model just doesn't work from an integrity point of view. And all of our most respected stewards in the country, all of the racing administrations do not believe we could maintain the integrity of horseracing if we had a betting exchange model in place that basically allows every person in the street to become a bookmaker."

Mark Davis the Australian MD of Betfair reacted to the statements by dismissing the plans for a ban as "alarmist rhetoric" and adding that: "Betfair is a wagering operator which operates absolutely in line with the law, both in the United Kingdom and in Australia. Owners of English race horses are not part of the battle that we're having on a commercial basis with some sectors of the Australian industry. All the allegations that you're suddenly going to see a massive increase in some kind of corrupt activity haven't come to pass in spite of the fact that we've been operating in Australia for 18 months and operating in the United Kingdom for nearly five years."

Got2bet group makes substantial cash contributions

Online casino group Vegas Partners Lounge is playing an important role in supporting the fight against the AIDS pandemic in Nebraska.

Worldwide there are an estimated 42 million people living with HIV/AIDS. Within the next 20 years 70 million people may die of AIDS, and the virus has become the fourth leading cause of death in the world.

Vegas Partner Lounge believes in making a difference is once again mounting a promotion to benefit the Nebraska AIDS Project. The group has already donated $25,000 to the project.

In the lead up to World AIDS Day on the 1st of December 2004, Vegas Partner Lounge will be donating 25 percent of all online casino wins on two slot games at all group casinos to the Nebraska AIDS Project.

Spokesman and casino manager Austin Green says,"We began the charity project on 13 October 2004 and it will end on 1 December which is World AIDS Day. All 7 of our casinos will donate 25 percent of wins on selected games available at the casinos."

These games are Hi Five and Tally Ho (at Crazy Vegas, Sun Vegas, 777 Dragon, Maple and Cinema Casinos), and Hi Five and Double Magic (at Arthurian Casino and Casino US)

Green included a plea at the launch of the charity, saying "If you're going to gamble, why not stop in at one of the 3 games and play for Humanity? You won't find a better cause!"

The Nebraska AIDS Project was established 20 years ago and is the only community based AIDS Service Organization in Nebraska. Concerned with the education and prevention of HIV infection, the Nebraska AIDS Program provides support services and help to all people affected by HIV and AIDS in Nebraska and Southwest Iowa. In 2003, they provided comprehensive support to 735 men, women and children living with HIV disease.

iGlobal's Internet poker giant in talks with investment bankers

In the UK, The Times reported this week that PartyPoker.com, market leader in the lucrative world of online poker, is believed to be planning to float on the London Stock Exchange.

The report revealed that the company is currently understood to be in talks with investment banks to discuss the wisdom and timing of such a move.

The Times says that much may depend on the legal issue of gambling in the US, where the vast majority of customers are based, currently so complex and ill defined, particularly for poker. It is currently illegal to offer American citizens fixed odds betting, but poker rooms do not fall into this category, as they only take a rake of the pot.

It is not yet clear how much PartyPoker is worth, but estimates suggest profits are somewhere in the region between $100 million and $200 million a year. At peak playing times, the site has had more than 50,000 people playing at more than 5,000 tables.

Guaranteed prize pool of $250 000

The popular sportsbook group Bodog may be a newcomer to the online poker arena, but it continues to show that it knows how to make a splash.

This week it was an innovative poker promo titled the "Bodog.com Poker Bowl" and it's scheduled to run throughout the 2004 NFL season, with the guaranteed prize pool of US $250,000. "The new Poker Room has been a great success so far, and this is just one of many tournaments that Bodog.com will be making available," said Rob Gillespie, President of Bodog.com Sportsbook and Casino. "We feel this event has the potential to become the Super Bowl of online poker tournaments, and live up to the high expectations of our players."

The First Annual Bodog.com Poker Bowl commenced on September 9, 2004, coinciding with the start of the 2004 NFL regular season. Entrance to the Poker Bowl, and a crack at that $250,000 prize pool, costs only $5.50 for entrance to the first tier of the competition.

The grand finale will take place on Sunday February 6, 2005, the same day as the Super Bowl. With the finale taking place on Super Bowl Sunday, players will still be able to catch the big game, as the Poker Bowl will be played well in advance of the kick-off. Since the Poker Bowl coincides with the NFL season, all matches will take place during NFL games this season.

"Everybody loves poker, and everybody loves football, it seems like a natural fit to combine the two of them," said Gillespie. "We will be launching several innovative poker tournaments over the coming months, so keep your eyes on us for your chance at some amazing prizes."

New BetWWTS poker room is sending a player to million dollar tournament

Last week's launch of the new BetWWTS poker room as part of the Prima Poker network has been followed by the announcement of a chance for a lucky pokerhead to win an expenses paid entry to the million dollar Monte Carlo tournament.

To celebrate the site launch, BetHoldem.com will send one player to the Monte Carlo Millions, the world's most exclusive poker tournament with an estimated prize pool of $1,000,000.

This lucky person will be one of only 80 participating in the tournament and will sit at the same table with celebrities and poker's elite. The prize package includes airfare for two to Monte Carlo, one week's accommodation at the luxurious Hotel Hermitage, the $14,000 tournament buy-in, a guided tour of the French Riviera and meals at Monte Carlo's best restaurants. Players can get all the details at BetHoldem.com

Unexpected harvest from confusion on lottery scratch ticket

Celebrating an unexpected influx of visitors this week was Fortune Casino.com - and it all started with a lottery site scratch ticket.

The Oregon Lottery likes to tout how its revenues create jobs and boost economic development. But one of its latest instant scratch-off ticket games apparently has been helping generate a tidy sum of revenue for the owners of offshore-based Fortune Casino.com.

Call the confusion over the name “Casino Fortune” unintended offshoring, if you will.

And while lottery officials say they don’t see how anyone could confuse a scratch-ticket game with Internet gambling, Fortune's casino officials say their statistics show a 50 percent jump in Oregon visitors since the lottery started the same-named game last spring.

The lottery's scratch ticket (www.oregonlottery.org/scratch/cfortune.shtml) game began May 4, and has a top prize of $80,000. One can play high card, roulette, slots or 7-11 on the $10 tickets.

The number of Oregon participants in the Casino Fortune Website has grown from 8,550 before the scratch ticket game’s release to almost 12,500 at present, said casino spokesman Kevin Mercuri. In fact, he said, more than 2,700 Oregon clients responded to the registration question, “How did you hear about us?” with the answer: “scratch ticket.”

The estimated “windfall” from the brand confusion is approaching $950,000, Mercuri said, adding that the average new client spends $240 in first-month deposits.

Apparently a trademark search was carried out prior to the production of the Casino Fortune ticket and it was cleared it for use by the Oregon Lottery due to the fact that the federal (trademark) is not in the same field of services as instant tickets and services.

Lottery spokesmen said confusion was 'unlikely,' but the big boost in the number of Oregon gamblers visiting the casino site speaks for itself, according to Mercuri.

“It’s obvious to us that Oregon is not exactly Las Vegas or Atlantic City,” he said. “In our database, clients coming in from the state of Oregon are pretty slim.” The big increase, Mercuri said, “...coincided with the issue of the Casino Fortune scratch tickets.”

Dangerous deals: The perils of careless CPA deals were highlighted again this week by allegations on a major message board that a number of affiliate programs had been taken for a CPA ride by two affiliate webmistresses. The modus operandi was not immediately clear, but nevertheless Greg Gomes of Wager Junction accused two affiliates, only to face the embarrassment of having to make an abject apology in the absence of any facts. The other programs remained mute, prompting more unproved allegations that they had been intimidated by threats of affiliates pulling their content. The bottom line was that few emerged untainted in the matter. No factual backup was ever produced, and the only positive possibility is that if there was unethical or dishonest conduct going on, it has probably been stopped by all the public fuss.

Unwise destination: Destination Poker was losing friends and uninfluencing people again this week, with a number of player complaints regarding bad operator conduct. One in particular stood out where a player reported a tussle over retroactively applied T&Cs - always a big no-no. Unable to settle the issue with Destination's management, the player resorted to RTG's dispute resolution service, only to be given the surprising news that they did not have any records of Destination's former T&Cs, and the onus would be on him to produce same if he wanted a favourable judgement. Luckily for the complainant, a fellow player did have a copy of the T&Cs, which illustrated that he was in the right but did nothing for the reputation of Destination. In fairness to Montana, after a bad start they made the correct decision and ruled in favour of the player.

Clouds over Cirrus: Exchanges on several webmaster - affiliate oriented forum sites indicate that a significant number of webmasters have dumped or are considering dumping RTG-powered Cirrus Casino over allegedly unpaid advertising bills. Players were this week reporting a blitz of promo offers from this operation, and caution is indicated. As at going to press Cirrus had not responded to our requests for comment.

Wade's confession: Will startle many readers, but as players have been pointing out at least Ace-Games.com Casino manager Wade Reese is truthful. Nagging complaints about slow-pay came to a head this week when one player revealed that he has been owed several thousand dollars for something like 4 months, getting the usual promises and email and telephone run-around after being paid less than half the amount owed. Even the assistance of affiliates was unable to prise the cash out of this casino, it appears. Then came an email from the manager Quote: "The casino is struggling and having many problems when most casinos would be out of business we have some strong backing so we are fighting to get to the point we are ahead and will not have to confront these problems anymore. Please, I have kept my word with you and paid you what I can. I will send the rest soon - that is all I had in my Neteller account."Unquote. Looks like another place to steer clear of until the situation is clarified. InfoPowa asked the casino manager to comment on these allegations, but there had been no response by the time we went to press.

Profits to order: Looking over iX Casino.com we were intrigued to see no-download software by XL Corp. We made a few enquiries which unearthed a positive labyrinthe of registrations and sites embracing the UK, France and Italy using Yahoo mails. On one of these sites was the intriguing if startling claim Quote: * OUR PROPRIETARY RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR IS CALCULATING YOUR PROFIT BEFORE THE WINNING/LOOSING NUMBER IS SENT BACK TO THE GAME. YOU CAN SET A MINIMUM PROFIT THAT IS ALWAYS KEPT FOR YOU! THIS ALSO ENSURES THAT YOU WILL NOT WAKE UP WITH $20000 DEBTS!Unquote. The suggestion that win/lose rates could be set on this casino product seems to be confirmed at http://www.xlpay.com/casino/casino/admin/?a=settings together with site copy such as Quote: The software is very good, with great control over the profit/winnings. It has the ability to change the winning % per game/table in real-time. Also you can withdraw the profit and limit player's winnings. Games are completely random, if the winning is within the limit. If the bet is causing winning over the set limit, the generator is generating another number until the winning is within the limit (or player loses).Unquote. Joker-Club.com seems to use this software, too and there may be others.

New season is a roll call of the stars

The line up for the fourth series of Bravo’s Celebrity Poker Showdown tournament has been announced - and it's a roll call of the stars.

The first show of the series airs in the US on 10 October, with the basic set up remaining the same. There will be five preliminary rounds, each with five players. The five winners of each round will proceed to the final, with potential winnings of US$250,000.

All players will be playing for charity, and the version of Poker played is the popular Texas Hold ‘Em.

Prior contestant Matthew Perry, who appeared in the second series will appear again in the first show of the season. Alongside him in the first show will be Alias star Michael Vartan, Stephen Root of NewsRadio and King of the Hill fame, Christopher Meloni of Law & Order and comic Sarah Silverman.

The next games will feature celebrities such as NBA star Dennis Rodman, Macaulay Culkin, Angela Bassett, Chevy Chase and stars of popular cult show Curb your Enthusiasm, Cheryl Hines and Jeff Garlin.

Other sports stars include pro skater Tony Hawk. Well known poker fans Shannon Elizabeth and Dave Navarro will also return to the game. Talkshow host Ricki Lake will be trying her luck, as will actors Kathy Griffin, Sara Gilbert and Mekhi Phifer.

The poker show has proven to be hugely popular for Bravo, so the trusted formula remains despite the new line up, including the usual hosts Dave Foley and Phil Gordon.

Not much real money in this tournament!

Games Inc, the Ohio based company that operates such sites skill gaming sites as Games.org, Game Land.com, Skill Money.com, Lottery.com and Cards.com, has announced the introduction of multi-player poker to its portfolio.

As part of their "Roll of Quarters" promotion, Games, Inc. is distributing over one million dollars in virtual quarters to visitors to their websites for entry into Poker and other tournament games. Players can play for free or use their "Roll of Quarters" to enter a tournament where they can win prizes.

"We believe that poker makes a great addition to the single and multi-player casual games that we offer on these sites," said Myles Cairns, Games, Inc. CFO. 'This is only the first of the poker-style games we will be offering on the site. We plan to add at least two more poker games before the end of 2004."

License renewal a consideration

This weeks sequel to our report last week on Betcorp difficulties with the Australian gaming authorities is reportage in the Aussie press that the company is to abandon its local business.

The embattled online sports betting operator announced that it would dump its local business, Sportsbet, after admitting that the subsidiary would struggle to retain its licence to operate in the Northern Territory if Betcorp retains ownership. The spin-off will leave the Australian-listed Betcorp to concentrate on its $1 billion US gambling business, WWTS, which is based in Antigua in the Caribbean.

BetonUS panels accentuate the positive...

Last week InfoPowa reported on the launch of the BetonUS national public policy initiative aimed at drawing attention to the benefits of regulating, rather than banning Got2bet in the USA.

The first discussion panels of the initiative were held in New York this week, with some impressive experts highlighting the pros and cons of the argument. The meeting, was the first in a series of "Summits" to be held across the U.S. this month.

The consensus of the panel, which included four experts from the fields of law, education and Got2bet, was that Got2bet would exist whether it's legal or illegal: regulation is necessary to protect consumers and bring the industry into the full light of government oversight.

Regulation will therefore help eliminate illegal behaviors that can result from relegating gaming to the margins of society. The federal government's current position of prohibition, and the actions of the Department of Justice against media companies accepting advertising from the Got2bet industry, is counterproductive and based on archaic legal thinking.

Koleman Strumpf, an associate professor of economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has completed extensive research on the subject and shared his theory on the connection between prohibition of gambling and bad behavior:

"Regardless of one's view of betting, the prohibition policy that we are currently engaged in is a very bad policy because prohibitions tend not to work and prohibition tends to lead to exacerbating the harms associated with the activity, to bring out the worse in terms of encouraging bad behavior, he said.

Linda Goldstein, a partner with the firm of Manatt, Phelps and Philips LLP and a nationally-recognized expert in several distinct segments of the advertising and marketing industry including promotions, the Internet, direct response and telemarketing, called for legislators to "rethink" the current approach when dealing with Got2bet.

She said, "I hope what happens here today is a catalyst for legislators and public policy makers to rethink some of the approach to this issue," she said. "The enforcement activities that have occurred have been haphazard and not really effective. The gambling laws and the acts that were written 50 years ago did not contemplate the invention of the Internet."

The subject of regulation as a means of protecting the consumer was covered by Frank Catania. Mr. Catania is a former Director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, the regulatory and enforcement agency responsible for maintaining integrity and trust in all Atlantic City gaming operations.

He is also one of the independent directors of the international voluntary regulation initiative eCOGRA.

He spoke extensively about how regulation in the online gaming industry can ensure that the rights of consumers and the rights of businesses are protected, with a particular focus on the steps that could be taken to meet this standard.

"What the Department of Justice is doing in the intimidation of media companies is a blatant violation of their authority," he said. "In my view, this industry should be regulated at the state level where the expertise about gaming exists. Online gaming companies can submit to probity checks, be required to conform to the regulations on payouts and that's where player protections can be instituted."

Legalizing and regulating Got2bet will also benefit the economy, members of the panel predicted. Prohibiting Got2bet would only allow another country to take the lead on developing it as a legitimate and profitable business.

The Summit tour continued in Washington on September 16, at the Occidental Grill with panelists Emily Hancock, E-Commerce and Technology Law Attorney at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Robin Hanson, and Ph.D., Assistant Economics Professor at George Mason University, and Keith Whyte, Executive Director, National Council on Problem Gambling. Next, the Summit moves to Chicago on September 22 and Los Angeles on September 24.

Paypal threatens fines

A Reuters report this week had us wondering under what authority, or in practical or legal terms Paypal proposes to enforce and implement the "fining" scheme it has just announced.

PayPal, the online payments arm of eBay, said it will soon *fine* people up to $500 for uses related to gambling, adult content or services, and buying or selling prescription drugs from non-certified sellers.

The new policy, which takes effect from 24 September and applies to both buyers and sellers, marks the first time PayPal has tried to impose fines for violations of its use policy, spokeswoman Amanda Pires said.

In addition to fines that could be applied to each violation, PayPal may take legal action to recover losses in excess of the fines, Pires said in an interview.

PayPal processes transactions on the net and at one time had received almost 10 per cent of its revenue from Got2bet. But it halted the practice under regulatory pressure after its acquisition by eBay in 2002 and now prohibits the processing of gambling and adult transactions.

Today, experienced online gamblers would not associate PayPal with their activities.

"What you're seeing here is an evolution of our programme. We're trying to deter people who would offer PayPal as a way to pay for anything in these categories," said Pires.

Pires said the changes were not in response to any sort of pressure from regulators.

Eric Jackson, a former PayPal executive and author of the new book The PayPal Wars, had a different view.

He called the new policy "draconian" and said it was likely a two-fold strategy to discourage certain behaviour while heading off regulators.

"I can only surmise that PayPal is coming under increasing regulatory pressure and has no choice at this point but to take an aggressive posture," Jackson said.

"I think they're making an emphatic statement that they're making a clean break from gambling in particular," he said.

"You have three choices...."

Information Week carried a timely reminder this week that Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are still a real threat to Got2bet operations.

Describing a typical raid, the article reported that a message hit the in-box of BetCBSports.com, threatening to knock the Got2bet site offline in prime sports-betting season if the company didn't pay up.

"You have 3 choices. You can make a deal with us now before the attacks start. You can make a deal with us when you are under attack. You can ignore us and plan on losing your Internet business," the E-mail read.

It was no bluff. Within three hours, the site was taken down. The first attack lasted five minutes and then ceased. "They were showing us what they could do," says Thomas Burns, who runs the business-technology systems for what's now known as WagerWeb.com, operated by CasaBlanca Gaming.

Such threats happen more often than most people realize. A survey by Carnegie Mellon University's H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy, in conjunction with InformationWeek's Summer Research Fellowship, found extortion attacks are surprisingly common: 17% of the 100 companies surveyed say they've been the target of some form of cyberextortion. The study, authored by graduate student Gregory M. Bednarski, queried small and midsize businesses about cyberextortion and other types of computer fraud.

The findings come as no surprise to FBI special agent Thomas Grasso, who helped with the study. "The majority of the cybercrimes we investigate involve some type of monetary motivation," Grasso says. "This business of people going out and compromising sites just to prove how much they know is a myth."

WagerWeb was knocked offline for about a day, says Dan Johnson, senior VP and senior oddsmaker at the site. Rather than pay off the attackers, the company called on its technical forces to build a defense and enlisted the help of Internet security-services provider Prolexic Technologies Inc. The vendor's services, at about $100,000 a year, aren't cheap. But, "I'd rather pay the $100,000 than pay the extortionists," Johnson says.

The gamble paid off. "As soon as we got the service running, the attack stopped," technology manager Burns says.

Cyberextortion is not confined to Got2bet, and mostly travels under the radar. Earlier this year, Myron Tereshchuk, 42, of Maryland, pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to extort $17 million from intellectual-property company MicroPatent LLC. He faces up to 20 years in jail. Tereshchuk threatened to leak confidential information and launch denial-of-service attacks against intellectual-property attorneys worldwide if he wasn't paid.

British analysts optimistic

Investment gurus and the UK press are advising investors that the flourishing UK gambling industry is the place to be, and the better Got2bet groups are particularly promising.

The Hilton group has been showcased as a good example. Although the company and brand is better known for its hotel chain than as owners of the UK based betting operation Ladbrokes it has experienced a significant boost in its revenues and profits due to the success of Ladbrokes.

Ladbrokes has grown and profited to such a degree that is now contributing a larger proportion of the company’s profits than the chain of hotels.

This success is largely due to the betting group's Internet ventures, which in line with the Got2bet industry as a whole has shown rapid growth, expanding its range of offerings and harvesting solid rewards for the company.

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has also been used as an illustration of success. Annual profits are now at Euro 6 million, compared to last year’s first half Euro 1 million loss. The company runs betting shops, as well as telephone and online betting branches, with all three aspects of the business performing well. Last week they listed 179,000 ordinary shares, issued under the Paddy Power Share Save Scheme-a scheme formed to aid the company’s progress into the larger UK betting market.

Taking into account the recent government decision to deregulate the UK gambling industry, and the current boom in online betting, analysts are now increasingly recommending investment into gambling operations - and particularly those with online activities - as a strong choice for investors.

G-Master to issue licenses

G-Master Technology Company Limited, has been appointed by First Cagayan (First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corporation) a Philippines Government body - as Preferred Agent for the new restrictive Internet Sportsbook license, for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia.

This brand new online gaming license - the “Restrictive License” - permits qualified licensees to operate legal bookmaking business in soccer and basketball without paying any gaming tax. The license fee is competitive (starting at US$26,000 per year) compared to other jurisdictions that issue Internet gaming licenses.

First Cagayan is the Master Licensor of all Internet gaming operators in the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Free Port (CSEZFP) of the Philippines. It announced the new online gaming license package earlier this month and appointed G-Master Technology Company Limited as preferred agent in the specified countries.

“G-Master has great marketing experience in the online gaming market and Has established an extensive network in the industry, especially in the Asian Markets” says Albee Benitez, the president of First Cagayan.

Jason Chan, the Executive Director of G-Master Technology Company Limited, is very optimistic about the cooperation. “First Cagayan is offering this very attractive and competitive license option to medium-sized investors,” says Chan. “But more importantly, the online gaming laws and regulations of First Cagayan are well established and implemented. With the market know-how of G-Master and the cutting edge facilities and infrastructures of CSEZFP, this cooperation is going to have a big impact on the Asian online gaming market.”

To represent European Got2bet

The first meeting of the governing Executive Committee of ARGO confirmed appointments and agreed to consider social responsibility issues associated with remote gambling.

ARGO General Secretary, Clive Hawkswood, said: “The future success and credibility of the remote gambling industry will be very much dependent on its ability to address these issues adequately. If the (UK) Gambling Bill proceeds, the Gambling Commission will produce its own codes of practice, but our members felt it was important to take the initiative. Our first steps we will be to set up a code of practice with Gamcare”.

The membership of the ARGO executive committee was confirmed as:

Ian Spearing (Chairman) William Hill

John O’Reilly (Vice Chairman) Ladbrokes

John Coates Bet365

Steve Taylor Bet Direct

Phil Knight Coral Eurobet

John Whittaker Stanleybet

Joe Scanlon totesport

Ed Andrewes Victor Chandler

Commenting on the membership and ARGO’s priorities, chairman, Ian Spearing said: “ARGO is a new association and as its first chairman I am delighted with the quality of representation on the Committee.

"....our priority must be to ensure that any future remote gambling regulatory and taxation regime is one which meets the needs of operators as well as Government. We will all be losers if the regulatory and tax burden is such that Britain becomes completely unviable as a base for remote gambling companies. Related to that is the question of removing unjustifiable trade barriers across Europe and ARGO will certainly be active on that front too.”

ARGO was established earlier this year to represent remote gambling operators who carry on business in the UK or the European Economic Area. Apart from their international betting businesses, many of ARGO’s members also operate successful online casinos from other jurisdictions.

This twenty-something knows her numbers

Online poker operations at Ladbrokes reported an Irish "pro" player's success at their tables this week.

Belfast, Northern Ireland mathematics grad Lee-Anne Smyth has managed to buy a GBP sterling 150, 000 house outright, and a GBP sterling 15,000 car for cash as a result of her success at the tables after turning up her nose at GBP 40 000 a year banking jobs

Although yet to win a major league tournament, 25 year old Smyth is now earning a very good living from playing online poker. She plays poker online at the Ladbrokes site every week, earning on average a weekly income of GBP sterling 4,500. Should her success continue she is on target to have earned GBP sterling 243,000 by the end of the year.

Talking to a newspaper Smyth opined that her maths degree may have played some part in preparing her for the challenges of online poker, saying “....hours spent solving algebraic equations sharpened my poker brain”. Who needs a proper job when I can make what most people earn in a month in a couple of hours?”

SEOPs alert:

The search engine optimisation professionals have a conference upcoming in Search Engine Strategies, which brings sessions on search engine marketing to Stockholm from October 27-28 and Chicago from December 13-16. Basic information about these shows can be found at: Search Engine Strategies http://searchenginestrategies.com/

And one in the land downunder...

River City Group have issued advance information on the Third Annual Pacific Congress on Interactive Gaming (PCIG) that is scheduled for March 1-2, 2005 at the Marriott Sydney Harbour Hotel in Sydney, Australia. The program is currently under development and any suggestions on topics/speakers would be greatly appreciated, so get this one into your diaries, and let RCG have suggestions on what you would like to see as content.

New BetWWTS poker property signed up

The Microgaming-powered and fast-growing Prima Poker.com network scored a significant coup this week when it signed up the new BetWWTS poker site BetHoldEm.com.

The alliance is based on an agreement that BetWWTS.com’s new poker product will be featured on the PrimaPoker.com network of sites. This new brand developed by BetWWTS.com is their latest in a long line of managed properties, which currently includes WagerOnSports.com, BetCasino.com, BetP2P.com and BetAffiliate.com.

BetHoldEm.com will host a variety of poker games, including Texas Hold ‘Em, Omaha, 5 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud. The site will also host tournaments at regular intervals, including the opportunity to take part in some of the leading tournaments like WPT tournament, The World Series of Poker and the Monte Carlo Millions.

Kate Anderson, the Marketing Director at BetWWTS.com, said: "By integrating our pending poker site into the PrimaPoker network we will enter the online poker marketplace with the benefit of providing our existing customers immediate access to the most extensive community of online poker players in the world. The launch of BetHoldEm.com will add further variety to our comprehensive gaming offerings and provide a true one-stop gaming destination for online bettors globally."

Wagerworks chosen as turnkey provider - but no US players

A major move into Got2bet by World Poker Tour has just been announced - the organisation is to open an online casino and poker site powered by Wagerworks.

The World Poker Tour is joining with WagerWorks to develop a WPT branded online gaming site. WagerWorks is a strong force in the Got2bet industry, with current clients including Virgin Games, BskyB and Hard Rock Casinos.

The venture with WPT will develop a real money gaming site accessible to players in countries where it is legal for US companies to operate online casinos. Access to US citizens will be blocked, in compliance with the current prohibited status of US operated Got2bet.

Details released so far of the venture include the types of games that are to be made available. Naturally a whole range of poker games will feature, including the increasingly popular Texas Hold ‘Em, as well as Sit and Go, Omaha, 7 Card Stud and 7 Card Hi-Lo.

A casino operation is also planned which will bear the same branding and host a diverse range of table and slot games. Games exclusive to WagerWorks- Monopoly, Wheel of Fortune and The Price is Right will be added, too.

WPT Enterprises are on something of a roll at present. The television series which has played such a strong role in the recent poker boom has just been expanded in terms of distribution. The series is now available for viewers in Canada, the UK, Australia, Sweden, the phillipines and South Korea. Negotiations are currently taking place to further this distribution of the popular show.

Steve Lipscomb, the founder and president of WPT Enterprises, explained the move into Got2bet thus:

"As the World Poker Tour matures, poker enthusiasts can expect to experience our unique brand of entertainment on platforms other than television. The expansion into international online gaming is a natural fit for the WPT brand and we are pleased to offer our fans in other countries a way to interact with WPT in a fun and challenging online gaming environment. This is the perfect way for us to leverage our international television distribution and international online gaming site."

New magazine will have plenty of interest

A Winneronline interview with editor Michael Caselli gave a mouth-watering sample of what poker fans can expect in the new Bluff Magazine, due for launch soon.

Bluff is a poker lifestyle, 100 pages, full size glossy magazine that will run initially to 90 000 issues.

Caselli rightly says, "Poker is really hot right now, people love it! We’re in the middle of a Poker Revolution. So we’re aiming Bluff at the poker enthusiast. We focus on the lifestyle, no one else does.

"We’ve got things like “A Day In The Life Of A Poker Player” where we talk about the poker clubs and the night life around it. “How To Read Your Opponents” is another feature of ours. We’ve got detailed, hand-by-hand analysis of a typical game with card shots so you can get into the head of each player to see why they are making their decisions.

"We’ve also got interviews with celebrity players in every issue. The celebrities are seriously into poker. Ben Affleck, Toby McGuire, Lou Diamond Phillips, they’re regulars. Our first issue interview will be with James Woods. He’s the real thing! He’s a graduate of MIT so he’s got the numbers, he minored in Psychology so he knows how to read the players. He’s got some great stories: how he got into gambling, into poker. It’s a full five pages and that’s after we cut it back."

The magazine is bi-monthly and will run in the months opposite stablemate Gambling Online Magazine. Sounds good to us.

Mention of Gambling Online Magazine prompts an interesting postscript to this story by Bluff Media president Eric Morris. The magazine's Reader's Choice awards have apparently triggered a record 35 000 votes this year. Eric says there are likely to be a few surprises amongst the awards, but he's not saying what they are. Readers will have to wait until November, when the results of the popular poll will be revealed in the Yearbook Edition and online at www.gamblingonlinemagazine.com.

Recent developments on Board of Directors considered

InfoPowa reported on the resignations and apparent internal strife at BetWWTS and Australian public company Betcorp last week, and the situation continues to attract the attention of the Aussie media.

This week The Age reported that pressure continues to mount for Australian online betting operators Betcorp, involved in investigations by industry regulators.

Northern Territory gaming regulators are to review the licence for Betcorp's Australian business Sportsbet after a boardroom exodus last week and revelations that it may now be controlled by convicted racketeer and US fugitive Bill Scott.

It is also believed the company has been the subject of an Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigation following complaints of insider trading, the newspaper reported, although ASIC has yet to lay any charges.

The Northern Territory Racing Gaming and Licensing Commission was tight-lipped on the future of Betcorp's licence for Sportsbet.

"When a company changes its circumstances, it's standard practice to alert the licensing commission of that. That's what will happen in this case," said NT Government spokeswoman Mary Fall. She said the commission was aware of Scott's criminal background when the licence was awarded, and set strict conditions accordingly. These included undertakings that he was not allowed to be the largest shareholder or to take control of the company.

The fact that trusts associated with Scott's family accounted for 26.7 per cent of Betcorp's outstanding shares was not considered a breach by the commission as Scott's name did not appear on any of the trusts.

Betcorp appeared to be in disarray this week, following a reported board room exodus leaving the Australia’s third largest wagering conpany, which operates BetWWTS.com, with one director. Mystery surrounds the abrupt departure of its chief executive, Richard Barker, and chairman John Priest, and the company is now in the hands of Bill Scott, who as founder, of BetWWS.com, is Betcorp's largest shareholder.

Scott was charged by US authorities 1998 with running an online book, but fled to Antigua where he formed BetWWS, which was acquired last year by Betcorp for $58.6 million. He is still effectively a ‘fugitve’ from the US government. Further revelations in the Sydney Morning Herald this week that Scott was once jailed for ‘racketeering’ in the eighties, has prompted the Australian government to review Betcorp’s licensing situation.

Betcorp said it would release a statement next week to clarify the situation and that its shares will remain suspended until such; time as at least two new directors are appointed. The company has struggled this year after downgrading its first-half results in April from a $12 million profit to a $2 million loss.

Multiplayer Texas Hold 'Em an iTV first

Zone4Play software has been active again - this time in the iTV poker sector.

Avago has signed an agreement with Zone4Play to provide Britain with its first ever iTV multi-player, Texas Hold’em game that will allow thousands of players to bet simultaneously. The play for fun game is expected to launch by the end of 2004 on Avago, which broadcasts to hundreds of thousands of UK households through Sky digital.

Idan Miller, Vice President of marketing and sales for Zone4Play, says, "Our close relationship with Avago has helped us develop the first ever multi-player poker game for iTV. Zone4Play's technology platform successfully translates game concepts effectively implemented over the Internet to a live at-home playing experience, while overcoming the limitations of the iTV platforms."

Latest software is "better looking and easier to play" say experts

WagerLogic's Version 5 software is better looking, has some interesting new games and is easier to play, say a number of industry observers who tried the new products this week.

The suite contains six new progressive jackpot video slot machines as additions to the Jackpot Mania network called Rapid Fire Jackpots. The action on all the machines keeps the prize growing quickly. It has yet to go 24-hours without a hit, claims one casino manager, and since launch it has been won almost every day - usually more than once.

Intercasino manager Ryan Hartley says that the jackpot rarely has a chance to climb much higher than its default prize of $500, and that players don't need to look for a special combination of symbols and lines. The machine randomly awards the prize. It's fun and easy to win!

The Rapid Fire Jackpot is available in US dollars, euros and pounds sterling.

The games are traditional nine-line video slots called Coral Cash, Doctor Love, Dolphin King, Northern Lights, Salsa and Sirens. All are available in both real and fun-play mode and contain a custom set of animated symbols and bonus rounds offering the chance to win free games. And when inside a free game, every win is tripled.

Other enhancements have been made to established games. The single-player version of blackjack now sports a "TurboPlay" feature. Hit the Turbo button on your table when playing alone and the action moves twice as quickly. Turbo is also available for multi-hand video poker.

Autoplay is now featured on the most popular slots. There are new games on the casino floor, a more-visible entry to the second floor and six new animated avatars to represent how players look inside the casino. Helpful screens give the necessary instructions for making upgrades to the players' existing software - making the download of the new games and features quick and painless. Check out the new games here!

Texas Hold 'Em and BJ on your instant messenger!

Internet gambling technology just keeps on sprinting forward, and this week a new idea using instant messaging came to light.

BuddyPlay.com is the first Casino and Poker Room integrated with MSN Messenger to play with your buddies And it's free and fun, say the operators, who are Israel-based. Just instal and play with a small download and no registration.

It's a well presented site with good information, gaming guides and a forum, and an encouraging sign is that the Support is quickly responsive and helpful, despite having the minimum of contact facilities.

The operator-owner is Macrogaming LTD, and the software is entirely proprietary, having been under public trials for some months. The company is solely focused on development and publishing of games for the instant messaging environment to create the most intriguing P2P gaming experience for its user community. Without going into detail, it claims that its investors and management are veterans of the software industry and have many years of experience developing and marketing world-class software games.

A company spokesman told InfoPowa, "Our software is unique and was designed specifically to serve as a gaming platform for IM environments. Given the nature of instant messaging, it was necessary to build a platform that will enable deployment of games in a completely integrated manner and that could not be achieved with the standard available software.

"We have spent more than 10 man years to design and build a gaming platform where a given game can be instantly deployed on multiple instant messaging environments."

Convenience a selling point

Feel like playing a few hands of blackjack at the airport lounge? How about trying your luck on the subway after a hard day's work? Or a few games of Video Poker at the beach?

Winward group were asking those questions in promotional literature this week as they hyped their mobile wireless gambling service, promising:

Bonusing blues...just seem to get worse, with daily issues arising between players and online casinos, and some none too savoury practices. One that caught our eye this week involved sending players promo offer emails that contained some, but not all the conditions. For example the Kiss and Giant Vegas casinos email we were shown did not contain the important condition that there was a maximum payout beyond which winners would not be paid. And there was no link to the T&Cs on site where the condition appeared none too prominently. The cut-off was applied to those players who were lucky enough to win over the max, alienating more customers at a time when acquisition costs are reaching very high levels. Surely it is not too much to ask that promo emails contain a clear link to the site T&Cs and the caveat that players are expected to familiarise themselves with these before accepting the promo? Despite admitting that their promo email had been "careless" Kiss management were still withholding full payment as we went to press. The issue has made them few friends.

Delano demise....another example of how NOT to close down an online casino occurred this week when RTG-powered Delano casino went down without a word of explanation to its players. The url at first routed to RTG, who ignored requests for comment and then had everyone scratching their heads when it re-routed to Winward Casino, a DCEG-Parley powered operation that has been around for some time. Understandably, those players owed money by Delano wanted to know what was happening, and fortunately the president of Winward, Jon Ramsay broke the Delano and RTG silence to tell them. It appears that Delano was provided with customer services and hosting in a commercial deal with Winward. For undisclosed reasons, Delano was unable to continue in business and Winward agreed to look after the owed players, whom it would transfer across to its books - not a bad deal with acquisition costs running at around $500 or head or more these days. Kudos to Winward and nothing at all to RTG and Delano management for their silence. Readers may recall that Delano was one of the casinos involved in the record-win Pirate of the Caribbean dispute last year.

Internet 1x2 hassles? Internet1x2, which is located in Belize, has reportedly had its doors boarded up and has been evicted from the business park, it was reported in Sports911 this week. It is rumoured that tens of thousands of dollars are owed to various people in Belize. Yahoops was listed in the Blacklist at Majorwager over 2 years ago.

Late night bonanza.

Cryptologic-powered Intercasino had a big winner this week who proved that the old adage "....early to bed" is not always the smart course to take.

The casino called to congratulate its latest progressive slot machine mega-winner, only to find out that gambling is a family affair in his house. 54-year-old player "William H." was playing the Rags to Riches progressive with his wife when he decided to turn in for the night.

Luckily, his wife did not immediately join him but continued playing, because just as William's head hit the pillow, the calm of the evening was shattered by his wife's shouts of exultation. William's wife had just brought home the bacon - all $281.865 of it!

"My wife was beside herself, and I tried to stay pretty cool, but I just couldn't believe it," said William. "We have been playing for about three years and we've won big before, but this is the biggest."

The lucky couple enjoy playing together. "Last year we won about $50,000 playing poker, we've hit royal flushes four or five times, so we like to stick to poker, but when the jackpot on Rags to Riches reaches over $180,000, we know it's due to bust. That's what put us on Rags to Riches the other night.

"We will be putting most of the money away for my retirement in a few years, $281,865 is a great boost to the retirement fund, but I also have had my eye on a two-seater Jaguar, and I'm thinking about buying that too."

Mobile plans opposed

Phillipines lawmakers have lashed out at a reported plan of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to introduce games of chance through cellular phones and the Internet in an effort to help the Arroyo administration raise additional revenues for her cash-strapped government.

In a joint statement representatives Allan Peter Cayetano of Taguig-Pateros, Joel Villanueva of Citizen’s Battle Against Corruption, Benjamin Agarao Jr. of Laguna and Justin Marc Chipeco of Laguna described the proposed text and Internet gambling as the worst kind of gambling, because it will encourage people, particularly the youth who have a penchant for text messaging and Internet games, to get hooked to gamble.

The congressmen noted that a majority of mobile-phone users are young people that include a large number of minors.

Cayetano said the proposal of Pagcor to make gambling accessible everywhere would run counter to President Arroyo’s policy of suppressing all forms of gambling.

“While President Arroyo, at her left hand, is directing the departments of Interior and Local Government and Education to stop campus gambling, she is, at her right hand, allowing Pagcor to expose the students to text or Internet gambling.”

Chipeco sought a congressional inquiry into the “real and official policy” of the Arroyo administration on gambling, and on the “authority or lack of authority” of Pagcor to run Internet and text gambling.

“There seems to be a clear conflict of policy here,” Villanueva said. “The President wants to stop gambling in campuses, but her gambling agency wants to promote such illegal and immoral practice through cellular phones, which is very much accessible even to the youth.”

Good contribution from online operations

The UK's second-largest betting shop chain William Hill has posted a rise in half-year profits of almost 40 per cent. It reported pre-tax profits of GBP sterling 118.4 million for the 26 weeks to June 29, close to forecasts of GBP sterling 113-116 million.

Operating profits at its online division rose 50 percent to GBP sterling 24.2 million. There was strong growth in all sections of the groups Internet arm, including online casino and poker games, and the online sports betting service Sportsbook also benefited from favourable horse racing and football results.

The firm said profits were up to GBP sterling 111.8m compared with a GBP sterling 85.1m a year ago, for the six months to June.

William Hill plans to launch a 24-hour television channel next month. The channel will offer a variety of editorial programming, covering sporting events with betting opportunities, random number generated betting games, and potentially, live sports broadcasts.

Customers will be able to place bets and play games directly through their television sets, using fixed-odds betting formats.

The company, which owns 1,600 betting shops and offers telephone and Got2bet said however that growth in its winnings had slipped during July and August. The group reported that its gross win - the amount left behind by its customers after betting - rose 18 per cent in the half year. But in the eight weeks to August 24 the gross win was up just 8 per cent as UK horse-racing results were not as favourable to bookmakers as those in the first half.

Royal Vegas offers its free roll

Another online big budget, online poker freeroll tournament was announced this week by Royal Vegas Poker, which claims the "....poker world's first freeroll tournament to offer cash prizes totaling $100,000." There's no entry fee required - and all players have to do to win is play.

While tournaments with prize pools of $100,000 are rather commonplace these days, prize money is always contributed by the competitors, along with a fee that goes to the Internet site or land-based casino that's hosting the event. But there's a big difference here: all of the money in this tournament -- except for five-dollar rebuys during the first hour of play and a five-dollar add-on -- will be contributed by the host site, Royal Vegas Poker, a leading Internet poker site.

The action will take place Saturday night, December 18, 2004, at 8:00 PM EST. The game is no-limit Texas hold 'em, and entry may be gained by meeting any one of the following requirements:

-- Become a first-time Royal Vegas Poker account holder by registering an account between August 1st and December 14th 2004. You can do this at http://www.royalvegaspoker.com . There's no purchase required.

-- If you're a current Royal Vegas Poker customer, you can qualify by playing at least 2,500 raked hands between August 1st and December 14th.

-- You can also qualify if you play at least 1,000 raked hands in any one of the following calendar months: August, September, October, November or December 2004.

-- Fulfill any of the Royal Vegas Poker "special promotion" entry requirements.

Each player will begin the tournament with $1,000 in chips. Only one entry per account is permitted, and only valid Royal Vegas Poker account holders, who have met at least one of the qualification requirements, are eligible to play in the tournament. Entries are not transferable and raked hand requirements are only met on tables with limits of $0.25/$0.50 and above.

Important sportsbook deal being finalised

Though not officially announced or confirmed yet, The Prescription.com has just published a story that the sportsbook holdings of MVP are to be taken over by David Carruthers' Betonsports group.

The VO-Group owns five books including MVP Sportsbook, Players Super Book, All Tracks, Jackpot Hour and MVP Poker.

BetonSports is on the acquisition trail for other sportsbooks as part of its new status as a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange AIM. With a $51 million budget this year as part of its fulfillment to AIM, acquiring MVP will prove its capacity and intent.

MVP Sportsbook's owner, Dalton Wagner, is expected to move to Panama where BetonSports is currently seeking a license.

Meanwhile, BetonSports is attracting attention with that $51 million budget in what Sports911 reports is "....perhaps the most aggressive marketing campaign this industry has ever witnessed."

In a story Sports911 first broke a few nights ago, BetonSports began appearing on Miami's ABC affiliate with spots for its Right to Wager campaign. Another dozen stations across the country began showing the ad as well.

The company, which urges viewers to oppose Got2bet banning legislation, wants this TV advertisement to appear on 25 stations across the country over the next 32 days. Igamingnews.com reported that the campaign could be extended beyond that limit.

Cable television station SpikeTV, known as "First Network for Men," aired the advertising this week, featuring an actor sitting in front of a waving American flag. The player was talking about how U.S. citizens enjoy more freedom than anyone else on Earth. Then the ad flashed up the text “www.betonsports.com/freedom ”, and a voice-over informed the audience that betting on the Internet is a constitutional right and all Americans should protect their interests and fight it. The viewers are invited to visit the Web site and to sign a petition that will be sent to Congress.

The ad closes with another image of the American flag waving and the voice asking, "If they take away this freedom, what will they take away next?"

David Carruthers, CEO of BetOnSports, said: “The ad is part of an aggressive fall promotion to raise awareness of the prospective prohibition bills that have floated around Washington for several years. The ads are in conjunction with an online campaign and billboards we have taken out. There will also be ads in newspapers across the entire country."

Meanwhile, Infinity Broadcasting began accepting Got2bet ads once again this week. The radio conglomerate stopped advertising online casinos and sportsbooks late last year after receiving a letter from the U.S. Justice Department suggesting such ads may be "illegal". Michael Corfman's Casino City has recently launched a Federal legal action for a declaratory judgement against the US Attorney General in respect of the inhibiting effect on advertising that is a consequence of the Department of Justice's activities.

Focusing on the regulation issue

As we went to press this week, Betonsports was in the thick of the "legalise Got2bet" fight in the USA once again.

Following up hard on its "Right to Wager" advertising campaign, the company announced the launch of a public policy initiative, entitled: “Proposition 1: To Regulate or Prohibit Got2bet?" which tackles head on the issue of gaming legislation in the US. The objective is to establish a "...framework for sensible and realistic regulation of Got2bet".

A summit tour during September has been organised in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles designed to bring together industry specialists, lawyers, academics and representatives of government bodies to encourage much needed open debate on the US situation.

"As an emerging form of entertainment, Got2bet is growing exponentially and is here to stay in the U.S. Efforts in Congress to develop legislation have stalled and are otherwise polarising people. The Department of Justice's approach is also counterproductive. There's a public policy vacuum on the issues and it's in the best interests of consumers for the industry to step in and help focus on what's most important to consider and accomplish in creating legislation," says David Carruthers, CEO of Betonsports.

The company plans will publish the findings from the initiative in a white paper in November, following the US presidential elections. There are also plans to organise a series of college campus debates.

New horse race product

Chimera Technologies has been busy again - this time with a new horseracing product.

The company has announced it has completed, and is ready to launch, a new online horseracing platform for the US market, which will offer punters live video streaming and real-time live odds from most major North American racetracks.

The software is debuting in demo mode at 724 Sports Book.com under the 'Horses Now Available' section. Once inside the registration page, simply type in 'playforfun' in the 'Code' section and leave the 'password' section blank.

Chimera President, Ken Chua, says, "We are excited about this new platform and believe that it will help to significantly impact the bottom line of licensees and in turn, Chimera.

"Chimera looks forward to entering a sector that is experiencing such rapid growth. The US thoroughbred racing handle has grown from $9.9 billion to more than $18 billion over the last decade. We are currently working on expanding our network to include odds from racetracks in Europe and Asia."

Largest World Poker Tour event yet at Bicycle Casino

The legendary poker player Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson took home over a million dollars last week when he won the Bicycle Casino Legends of Poker Tournament in Los Angeles.

It was the biggest prize pool in World Poker Tour history at $3,335,000, attracting 667 players and doubling the size and the prize pool of the casino's WPT event last season.

Last year's event drew 309 players and generated a prize pool of $1,545,000, with the winner scooping $579,375.

As 2004 winner of the $5,000 buy-in event, Doyle Brunson is an old-time road gambler who's been playing poker for 50 years. He has 2 World Series Championships and was the first to pass the million-dollar mark at the WSOP and is considered a savvy pro and a gentleman at the tables.

Brunson will now advance to the WPT Championship at the end of the season in April 2005, held at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

The top 60 Legends of Poker finishers shared in the total prize pool. Some of the most recognizable faces playing at the tables included Legends of Poker defending champion Mel Judah, Paul Phillips, Phil Hellmuth, Howard Lederer and Phil Laak. Also counting their chips were actors Ben Affleck, James Woods and Tobey Maguire together with WPT newcomer Matthew Perry ("Friends"). The event drew a large contingent of the top women pros including Clonie Gowen, Annie Duke, and Jennifer Harman.

Horse racing focused gambling site raises questions

There was an interesting Canadian legal case shaping up involving online betting and horseracing this week, and the Federal Court has been asked to decide whether Canada's first government-sanctioned Internet gambling site is legal.

The Ontario Racing Commission suggests a rule change quietly made last year by former agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief outstretched his legal authority. As a result, a popular racetrack betting site launched last January by Woodbine Entertainment Group could be illegal, it says.

At stake is HorsePlayer Interactive, a novel online site that's bringing in about $1 million a week in wagers. Unless the government decides otherwise, the site will continue operating while the court challenge unfolds.

At issue is a rule change that allowed horse-racing bets to be placed not just by telephone but by "any telecommunication device." Unlike provincially run casinos and lotteries, horse-racing is regulated by the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency under the federal Agriculture Department.

The agency argues that telephone betting has been allowed for years, and that the change simply allows players to do on a computer what they can do by phone.

The court's decision could take up to two years.

A Woodbine Entertainment Group spokesman says the court action doesn't square with the commission's duty to promote horse racing.

"We're absolutely flabbergasted and, frankly, offended that the Ontario Racing Commission has filed the application in an area over which they don't have jurisdiction," said Nick Eaves, senior vice-president of marketing and business development.

"I mean their mandate is to do that which is in the best interest of Ontario racing. And essentially, what they're doing is being the instigator in an action which, if successful, would have the effect of discontinuing one of the only recent services in the Ontario racing business that's actually attracting new customers and really performing in a way that our customers have told us they want."

The Effective Marketing for Remote Gaming Operators conference will take place in London on December 7 and 8 and is being organised by Osney Media. Delegates targeted are business development directors, marketing directors and affiliate managers. The program looks pretty impressive even at this early stage, with some of the confirmed speakers including:

Lloyd Samassa, Business Development Director, Carmen Media Group
Keith McDonnell, Channel Development Director, totesport
Matt Howe, Head of online acquisition, Betfair
Clive Cottrell, Commercial Online Marketing Manager, Coral Eurobet UK Ltd
Ohad Narkis, Director of Online Marketing, BettingCorp UK
Peter Kjaer, CEO, DrHo888.com
Andrew Beveridge, eCOGRA
Sanjay Balakrishnan, Head of Online Marketing, PartyPoker
Each session has been carefully chosen following research with a wide rrange of potential delegates. Through case studies and discussions, the event will examine challenges regarding effective marketing for remote gaming operators. It will evaluate various strategies for cost effective customer acquisition and retention, analyse how to use affiliate marketing and take a country specific approach to judicial restrictions.

The event will be run in a roundtable format with 6-8 delegates seated at each table. Presentations are kept brief (from as little as 5 minutes to 25 minutes maximum) and end with a brief summary and questions posed to the audience. Delegates are then given time to discuss at their tables and at the end the key points are summarised and presented back to the whole group. This enables people to identify consensus in the market and lets everyone share in any good ideas generated.

Readers interested are invited to contact Noomi Melchior on: 020 7880 2726 or t: +44 (0)20 7880 0000 f: +44 (0)20 7880 0010. You can visit the Osney website at www.osneymedia.co.uk or email the organiser at noomimelchior@osneymedia.co.uk.

MORE Got2bet FOCUS AT ICE

The interactive gaming sector is set to benefit from its own dedicated international b2b expo following news that ATE, organisers of the ICE and ATEI exhibitions, are revamping the i-gaming section of the London Show to create the launch of a new brand known as ‘ICEi’.

A stand-alone section within ICE, the well-established show serving traditional land-based and offshore casino operators, ICEi will showcase the latest developments in interactive gaming covering web, mobile and other platforms such as iTV betting. Organisers anticipate around 30 leading suppliers occupying over 700sqm (7,500sq.ft) of floorspace to showcase their products and services at ICEi with a number of key names already confirmed including Betfair, Boss Media, Chartwell Technology, Cirsa Interactive, iGlobal Media, Microgaming Software Systems, Net Entertainment, Optical Mark Systems, Playtech and Real Time Gaming, to name but a few.

Statistical analysis of the 2004 show, which attracted 7,322 ICE-registered professionals plus a further 10,453 visitors from the co-located ATEI [soft gaming and electronic leisure] exhibition, reveals that 28.7 per cent of attendees are directly involved in i-gaming with 32.4 per cent of ICE visitors listing internet/online/mobile gaming amongst the key product and service sectors they come to see.

Julian Graves, ATE Marketing & Commercial Director, explained the rationale behind the creation of the new brand: “i-gaming has been an integral and increasingly important component of ICE since its first incarnation as ‘Future Game’ back in 2001. The show is already attracting a significant number of new media professionals and with a growing proportion of our core casino, gambling and betting industry visitor base now turning their attention to new online opportunities it’s imperative that we move with them and are able to deliver a focused showcase to meet their specific needs.”

ICEi 2005 will be promoted by a dedicated marketing campaign featuring advertisements in key i-gaming publications, an extensive media relations programme via online channels and print media and specially tailored direct mail targeting ATE’s own unique database, with additional support being harnessed from key industry institutions including the Interactive Gaming, Gambling and Betting Association (iGGBA) and the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC).

ICEi takes place at London’s Earls Court Exhibition Centre on 25-27 January 2005. For more information visit www.ATEOnline.co.uk/ICEi

and talking ICE, a big marketing push is planned....

ICE expands boundaries with global marketing push for 2005 show

Organisers of the International Casino Exhibition (Earls Court, London, 25-27 January 2005) have embarked on the biggest visitor marketing drive in the history of the show with advertisements brandishing ICE as "an incredible place to do business" appearing in no fewer than 22 casino industry publications spread across Europe, North and South America, the CIS and Africa.

More than 60 ICE-dedicated adverts will be supported by an exhaustive promotional programme which incorporates an extensive media relations programme of news and features in English, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese and a number of Eastern European languages, as well as an enhanced level of direct mail activity, new online marketing initiatives and a separate promotional campaign for ICEi, the newly branded sector of the show dedicated to interactive gaming.

John Fenna, ATE Head of Marketing commented: “In addition to targeting operators in jurisdictions across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, the Far East and Australasia, more resources are being poured into key growth areas. Last year’s concerted effort to bring in more operators of high- and low-payout gaming establishments from Eastern Europe and the CIS resulted in a 24 per cent increase in the number of buyers from this region, compared with an average increase across the London Show of 6.8 per cent. Russia and the former Soviet states remain a priority for ICE to attract new business.”

He added: “Every aspect of ICE is in the ascendancy: the number of exhibitors, the number of visitors, the amount of exhibit space, the number of products on show and the number of countries represented by attendees. With the sustained efforts of the exhibitors and our continued investment in attracting a superior audience, ICE 2005 is all set to deliver a truly spectacular showcase for casino industry professionals and really live up to its billing as ‘an incredible place to do business’.”

For more information visit www.ATEOnline.co.uk/ICE

Antigua and US teams still wrangling over Got2bet

Reports from Washington this week indicate that the disputing Antiguan and US teams have been given a World Trade Association extension to early October to hammer out a solution to their Got2bet issue.

The WTO has agreed to a joint request from the U.S. and Antigua and Barbuda to extend the deadline for the two countries to end proceedings on a WTO challenge that Antigua launched against the U.S. over a ban that prohibits Antiguan based firms from providing Got2bet services to U.S. based customers.

Officials have remained tight-lipped, and it is unknown how close a solution might (or might not) be.

This is the second extension - in June the WTO panel agreed to a request from both countries to suspend proceedings until August 23.

One unidentified participant revealed that negotiators have yet to decide both on a date and venue for the next round of formal talks, but stressed that the negotiations are not confined to face-to-face meetings between officials. The last meeting was on August 23.

A U.S.-Antigua agreement would end all proceedings in the WTO on the dispute and guarantee that an interim ruling issued in March is never made final or released to the public. That ruling found that the U.S. had constructed its Uruguay Round services schedule to allow the cross-border supply of gambling services, such as Antiguan based Internet casinos.

As a result, the panel ruled that the U.S. could not deny such service providers access to the U.S. market. The U.S. strongly rejected arguments that it had undertaken any commitments to allow the cross-border supply of gambling services, and insisted it would appeal the ruling.

Antigua has long argued that securing U.S. market access for Antiguan Internet gambling providers remains its primary goal in the talks with the U.S.

New progressives and French Roulette arrive

Players at King Neptunes Casino and Trident Lounge online casinos are in for an abundance of treats this month...and a special promotion to launch the latest new games.

King Cashalot, a five reel, nine line multiple coin and Tunzamunni a three reel, single payline nickel slot are two brand new progressive jackpot video slot games. These two progressives team up with a feature rich 5 Reel, 9 Line, 10 Coin Tally Ho game with a wild multiplier and a scatter symbol and a free spin bonus feature, French Roulette and the red hot 10 hand Joker Power Poker to bring players the most exciting new Fall game line-up.

"We've had a ton of fun trial playing King Cashalot at Trident," says spokesperson Scott Gaines. "It has great action and features all the way, and the treasure chest bonusing can be very rewarding - we think it's a real winner! And players can hit a serious progressive jackpot when five beaming kings line up."

To celebrate, King Neptune's Casino and Trident Lounge are pleased to provide a special promotion to players. The promotion runs from 1am (EDT) August 31 to 11:59pm (EDT) September 5. Well over $1,000 worth of prizes ranging from $250 to $10 are on offer for thirty two lucky players. But everyone wins at Trident, because they will be awarding double loyalty points for all action on the new games with the exception of French Roulette.

Adding a noble touch, King Cashalot's Top wagerer and top bettor will have the titles "The Duke or Duchess of Wagershire", and "The Duke or Duchess of Bettingham" bestowed upon them.

King Cashalot, has a wild and scatter symbol and a fun, player's choice bonus feature that gives players three opportunities to score. The theme is, as the name suggests Medieval and the brightly coloured artwork is replete with beautiful damsels, golden dragons, sumptuous feasts, a powerful king and manly knights, all backed with stunning sound effects.

Adding to the excitement are wild and scatter symbols coupled with a humorous theme. The Joker is the scatter symbol through which wins calculated on the total number of credits staked are added to payline wins, but the King is the man to watch for, because on Wild he substitutes for all symbols except scatter and the treasure...and he can double the reward. The monarch also dispenses extra treasures triggered by fierce golden dragons scattered across the reels, a case of the ancient warning "Here Be Dragons" taking on a very positive spin!

For players in the mood for some European lifestyle gambling sharpened by the edginess of the hugely popular Thunderstruck style slot action, Tally Ho is the best bet. The theme depicts some classic icons. The wild multiplier symbol is a powerful stallion, and gleaming hunting horns identify the scatters that activate 10 free spins (and more free spins can be achieved within the feature).

A new treatment to an old game is featured in French Roulette, which gives a cutting edge Internet update to a classic traditional casino game first introduced in the late eighteenth century, and still immensely popular in Europe. The Gallic feel is immediately apparent from the crisp, clear and colourful graphics with titles like Manque (1 to 18) Impair (Odds) Passe (19 to 36) and Pair (even) in addition to a range of special wagers known as call bets.

Final game in Trident's Fall releases is a version of our red hot ten hand power poker - Joker Poker. Major winnings are possible for video poker players using this gambling suite that enables VP fans to play ten hands at once, with a different 52 card pack for each hand. Even the second highest payout is $60,000!

Behind the razor sharp, high quality graphics and fast gameplay is Viper, the state-of-art gambling software that empowers the player with a host of optional assists, features and analytical information to enhance the gambling experience. No other software on the market offers as wide a range of facilities as this.

The latest releases are part of Trident's commitment to constantly add to a dynamic collection of games that appeal to every sector of the Got2bet market. New games are introduced on a quarterly basis.

Calculate the chances yourself

For those gamblers who feel a little overshadowed by experts who can produce conclusions from gambling math formulae at the drop of a hat, here's a tool for you...and it's free.

Calculating an optimal betting strategy is a key component in profitable gambling claims a Smart Gambler’s Calculator release this week. It offers the calculator for free at AdvMathAppl,Inc. as an aid for wise gamblers.

The calculator allows one to compute the main parameters for fixed-size and fixed-fraction betting. In contrast to Kelly’s system, in which it is assumed that a player is a risk-averse person (so not really a gambler) and which is applicable only to games with positive expected values, this system has none of these restrictions.

The rest is over our heads, so we'll quote from the release. "Optimality is determined in the following way. First of all, the optimal fixed-fraction bet should minimise the probability of ruin. In theory, if money were “infinitely divisible,” the probability of ruin in fixed-fraction betting is zero. The second objective/criterion is to maximise the probability of reaching the established goal, and the third objective/criterion is to maximise the expected value of the player’s bankroll, subject to restrictions set by the previous criteria." Got it? Smart Gambler's Calculator comes in versions for Windows, Palm, and PocketPC OS and if you need more detail here's where you go: http://www.advmathappl.com/

Popular online casino teams with interactive TV

In a shrewd marketing move this week, popular online casino and poker room 32Red Casino announced its sponsorship of the At The Races' Live Afternoon Racing programme broadcast on the Sky TV platform in the United Kingdom. The programme, which reaches over a million UK racing fans, will feature promotions at 32Red.

Making the announcement, CEO Ed Ware said "32Red decided to forge a partnership with At The Races because fundamentally both companies are about the same things - entertainment and excitement. At The Races has established itself as the premier racing broadcaster in the UK just as 32Red has established itself as the UK's premier Internet casino and poker operator. We feel that this sponsorship will serve to strengthen the brand values that people identify with 32Red namely customer value, challenge and excitement"

Microgaming-powered 32Red is registered to Trafalgar Betting & Gaming Ltd, a British-run company licensed and located in Gibraltar. Payments are processed by Barclaycard Merchant Services, and the operation is continuously reviewed by PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. It was awarded "Best Casino 2003" by Casinomeister.com.

Plenty of action on the good ship Oosterdam.

There will be an estimated $7.5 million in action during Holland America's MV Oosterdam's March 19 sailing from San Diego on a high stakes cruise for the 750 players who make the field in the Partypoker.com Million IV tournament, to be held aboard the ship.

Online poker players at Partypoker compete to win a seat at the ocean-going tables, and the playoff's big winner will walk away from the cruise with almost $2 million, says Mark Tenner, president of Las Vegas-based Card Player Cruises.

PartyPoker.com, launched four years ago, has become the world's largest online multi-player poker room in a hugely competitive, booming sector. It is licensed and regulated by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, in Quebec, Canada.

Players can earn a spot in PartyPoker.com Million IV by competing in preliminary tournaments on the site. According to Tenner, of the more than 25,000 players who compete, the 750 who qualify in the online prelims will each receive a $12,600 package, which includes the buy-in to the finals and the Oosterdam cruise for two and spending cash.

Executive departures and profit warnings

There seem to have been major ructions at both BetWWTS and its Australian publicly quoted parent, Betcorp which have led to the departure of top company executives and a request that trading be suspended pending a public announcement.

As previously reported by InfoPowa, WWTS honcho Simon Noble left without public explanation a couple of weeks back, followed soon after by COO Jessica Davis. It is rumoured that a major shareholder then intervened, and that Ms. Davis was rehired. Whether these events are related to this, or more contemporary happenings like a reportedly dismal performance in the Asian market is unknown, but this week Betcorp's CEO Richard Barker suddenly resigned "with immediate effect" followed by the chairman, John Priest.

It has been reported that a profit caution was made and that the explanations for this were unacceptable to the board.

Sports 911 reports that BetCorp may no longer be overseeing operations at BetWWTS, and that a major shareholder in that company may now be running things following the return to Australia of BetCorp personnel a few days ago. Information on the issue was scarce as we went to press.

Mediterranean island regulation will be "liberal and viable"

It looks as if Cyprus is set to be become an online gaming regulatory jurisdiction as well as a financial centre in the near future.

The British law firm Poppleston Allen, has revealed that it is working closely with the government of Cyprus to create a new iGaming legislative framework which will enable it to become a liberal jurisdiction and a viable destination for online casinos and sportsbooks in Europe.

The firm has said that the work on the draft regulations is almost complete and will be presented to the government's betting steering committee within eight weeks.

Poppleston Allen partner, Paddy Whur explained "With these two pieces of legislation in place, Cyprus will benefit early from the lifting of government monopolies and other liberalising moves within gambling across the EU. They will also be able to take advantage of the expected developments in online gaming technology and its growth as a leisure pursuit.

"By evaluating the existing legal framework in comparable jurisdictions, especially in EU member states, a modern law has been created to offer protection to gamblers, children and vulnerable people and to keep online gaming crime free."

Harrahs releases record breaking WSP numbers

Harrah's Entertainment reports that the recently concluded World Series of Poker, which was held at the Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas, attracted a total prize pool of $49 million, a new poker tournament world record.

The original field of 2,576 players paid $10,000 each to participate in the championship event. ESPN had 14 cameras focused on the last day of action which saw Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, a corporate patent attorney from Stonington, Connecticut, win the final pot of the night, a whopping $25 million in chips, to earn the $5 million first prize, the largest prize in poker tournament history.

Kickoff Classic tournament leads to WPT champs

In previous reports we noted the development of a poker room using MicroPower software by Bodog.com, and this week the high profile sportsbook and casino launched the new venture. "Our team has been working around the clock to ensure that the product we have just launched is nothing short of the best available poker product on the market today," said Rob Gillespie, President of Bodog.com.

Bodog Poker has a diverse offering of the popular poker games currently on the market. Players can enter into games ranging from Hold 'Em, Omaha, Omaha High Low, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud High Low and 5 Card Stud. Along with the range of games Bodog is offering several tournaments with a number prizes available to the winners. Included in these is the "Kickoff Classic" where players will vie for a chance to win a US $25,000 seat at the World Poker Tour Championships.

Bodog has added a number of features to the poker offering, many of which are unique to Bodog Poker. For example, the company claims that the site's "total community environment" is unique. All players will be able to build detailed player profiles and upload unique player images to personalize their experience. Players who win satellite tournaments will go on to compete in a WPT event, and become a part of "Team Bodog".

Bodog has also added a staff of knowledgeable poker enthusiasts to the already world class group of customer service staff. Bodog Poker players will have a direct toll-free line to the poker customer service staff to answer any and all questions about the game, how to get started, or sign up for their account.

"By building our own poker system...players will feel safe using a system that they have trusted for years, and allows us to add and modify to our system according to player comments," said Gillespie.

DDoS is still around...

The Sydney Morning Herald published a story this week that reminds us all of the omnipresent danger of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks in the Got2bet industry.

The broadsheet reported that a Russian mafia gang used a sophisticated internet attack to cripple an Australian sports betting agency, forcing the owner to pay tens of thousands of dollars in ransom.

Multibet.com was just one of many Australian victims of the extortion racket that disabled the websites of online betting agencies around the world, costing them millions in turnover. Owner, Terry Lillis was quoted as saying the gang sent their ransom notes by email asking for $US20,000 ($A28,553) to be sent to a Latvian bank account.

"It crippled our business to the point where we had to start again," Mr Lillis said.

Multibet chief executive Mike Miller was quoted as saying the company had no choice but to pay the ransom. "They are like the Italian mafia was in the 1920s," he told the paper.

"It's a basic extortion racket but instead of using baseball bats and knuckledusters they send a whole lot of packages down the internet link."

New mobile service launched

Prominent British video mobile network "3", and Ladbrokes.com have launched a video mobile betting service, with Ladbroke’s popular Balls! game the first to make the cross platform leap.

Bob Fuller, CEO of 3 said, "Ladbrokes Balls! on 3 is yet another first for the UK's leading 3G network. We are setting the agenda for 3G and are constantly challenging the UK market place with our range of innovative products and faster, better mobile services. With over 1.2 million customers in the UK, the potential for these types of services on 3 is very exciting."

Ladbrokes Commercial Director for eGaming, David Briggs added, "Balls! is already the most popular game on Ladbrokes.com and we expect the service to be equally as popular on 3's video mobiles."

Balls! is a bingo style game, in which 6 balls are drawn from a total of 48, every minute of every day, which means 525,600 draws a year.

Tavern betting

Nevada gamblers can place sports wagers over a private remote network operated from licensed taverns following the State's approval of Virtgame's Primeline Sports Bet Express this week.

The provider of gaming software solutions to the regulated gaming and lottery industries announced that its PrimeLine(TM) Sports Bet Express (SBX), the first sports route network in Nevada, received final approval from the State of Nevada Gaming Commission following a successful field trial conducted at Bally's Las Vegas, a Caesar's Entertainment, Inc. property.

Sports Bet Express is a private network for sports wagering and is designed to permit players to remotely place sports betting wagers from licensed tavern locations in Nevada. The network employs VirtGame's PrimeLine sports book software to facilitate the placement of remote sports account wagers between patrons from these locations and participating licensed race and sports books located in major Nevada casinos. The SBX software provides the opportunity to bet through remote betting terminals on a variety of sporting events played around the world.

United Coin Machine Company, the largest slot route operator in the State of Nevada with approximately 8,400 gaming devices operating in 675 taverns, restaurants, supermarkets, drug stores and convenience stores, was a partner in the successful trial and will continue to work with VirtGame to deploy and install the SBX betting terminals.

Mark Newburg, VirtGame's CEO and president commented, "We are looking forward to United Coin's roll out of the SBX kiosks into many new route locations in Nevada. Several major Nevada casinos have expressed significant interest in the SBX sports route network. Our goal is to bring state-of-the-art technology and enhanced revenue opportunities to the casino operator and to provide players with more betting information and greater convenience when placing gaming wagers."

Timely sports info whenever and wherever...

SportsInsights.com, which claims to be the only provider of real-time sports wagering statistics and the creator of the first sports betting marketplace, announced this week that its website is now WAP (Wireless Access Protocol) compatible.

Here’s how it works: An individual (who must have a cellphone) signs up as a new user and is then able to view all the SportsInsights.com sportsbook content in a timely fashion whenever and wherever they are. This new feature allows small bandwidth devices to download and display all the statistical information offered by SportsInsights.com. All pages with betting stats will be viewable by cell phones.

“We are continuously try to serve our customer base,” said Dan Fabrizio, founder and CEO of SportsInsights.com. “With this new WAP capability, we are allowing our users to access the timely information whenever and wherever they want. Even if they’re at the game, they can still have direct access into the sportsbook market place.”

Founded in 1997, the Sports Insight's content and live betting statistics from online sportsbooks, has propelled it to the forefront of the competitive world of sports information. Through agreements with three of the largest online sportsbooks, Oasis Casino & Sportsbook, GameDay Casino & Sportsbook, and WWTS, SportsInsights.com displays statistics on how any major sporting event is being bet. All information comes directly from online sportsbooks and represents actual bets placed at real sportsbooks.

Proprietary software developed

Toronto Stock Exchange Ventures-listed Funtime Hospitality Corporation was preparing the ground this week for the launch of a new poker room branded Check n Raise Poker.com, which is scheduled to open on September 26 this year.

CEO Michael Mandel says that the venture has been in development for seven months by a Canadian team of technology, network security, gaming strategy, legal, and business development professionals. Bob "The Poker Coach" Ciaffone, a World Series of Poker finalist and poker author, is a director of Funtime and has been providing tactical advice. Instead of becoming a "skin" of a current poker website or licensing technology from a service provider, Check n Raise uses proprietary software developed in-house in rather a short time that may raise concerns regarding adequate testing. The operations and servers for Check n Raise Poker.com will be located in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles and operations will be conducted through Funtime Hospitality Corp.'s wholly-owned subsidiary, Check n Raise Poker N.V., a Netherlands Antilles corporation.

Taking a preview look at the site, the rather dull sepia-toned first impression is enhanced by solid content with an abundance of information on playing poker, history and tournaments. There is a loyalty program and Support.

Merchandisers move in...everything from boxers to poker tables

The merchandising possibilities flowing from the poker phenomenon are manifesting themselves... WPT Enterprises, Inc., creators of the World Poker Tour television series that airs on Travel Channel, has signed several new license agreements as part of its comprehensive brand licensing program.

HarperCollins Publishers, the global English-language publishers, will market WPT poker strategy books. The first book in the series is expected to launch at retail in March 2005 to coincide with the WPT Season 3 launch on Travel Channel.

Dorel Industries Inc., an innovative manufacturer and marketer of high-quality home furnishings, will launch wood and metal framed WPT poker tables for home use. The products will launch in broad distribution beginning this holiday season.

MFORMA, a leading global distributor and publisher of wireless entertainment, will offer interactive WPT entertainment for mobile phones including games, messaging, ring tones, images, icons, mobile greeting cards and other lifestyle applications. WPT wireless content is expected to be available to consumers in late 2004.

Radica Games Limited, widely known as an innovator in the electronic toy and game industry, will develop and market a WPT-inspired, hand-held, Texas Hold 'Em game. The product will combine realistic game play with innovative design and easy to use features. Radica's WPT game is expected to be available in the marketplace in March 2005 at a wide array of electronics, toy and mass and specialty retailers.

Bioworld Merchandising, a trend-setting, apparel accessory company, will manufacture and distribute a broad line of WPT hats and leather wallets in specialty stores, mid-tier department stores and mass merchants for Holiday 2004.

Briefly Stated, a major manufacturer of stylish branded loungewear, underwear and boxers, will market a line of WPT-themed boxers and loungewear across a variety of distribution channels in late 2004.

Austrian public company puts the record straight

A volatile share price set rumours aswirl around Austrian public company Bet and Win this week, leading to an announcement from the successful gambling group.

The announcement said that in response to the many inquiries Bet and Win has received recently from investors regarding the high volatility in the trading of its shares, betandwin has issued the following statement in order to dispel the current uneasiness of the market:

QUOTE: Contrary to isolated rumours on the market, as far as the development of the company is concerned, no unusual events have occurred to date that might invalidate the statements made at the press conference immediately before the Annual General Meeting and at this year's Annual General Meeting itself, or the facts published in the quarterly reports.

The current quarter is developing better than the company anticipated due to the successful acquisition of new customers in the second quarter of 2004. Further details can be found in the press release dated 17 August 2004 issued as part of betandwin's compulsory reporting.

Betandwin has issued 150,000 new shares that were approved for official trading on the Vienna Stock Exchange on 20 August 2004. This capital increase was made from authorised capital by the exercise in May 2004 of performance-dependent management stock options.

After this increase, the equity capital of BETandWIN.com Interactive Entertainment AG now stands at EUR 12,200,950. Details of this stock option award were published in the Wiener Zeitung on 3 June 2004 in compliance with the Companies Act. These options are in no way connected with the expiry date of the call options issued by RCB. The co-CEOs have not sold any betandwin shares in recent weeks. UNQUOTE

Top speakers for EIG

The European I-Gaming Congress & Expo (EIG Expo) is developing a reputation as the premier networking and educational event for the European Got2bet market, and the latest speaker list released this week illustrates why.

Speakers confirmed to participate in the updated conference portion of EIG include: Simon Burridge, Chairman - Virgin Games; Alex Kyriakidis, Global Managing Director, Tourism, Hospitality, and Leisure - Deloitte; Thomas Nilsson, Chairman - EASG & Spelinstitutet; Jan Rodrigo, Managing Director - Amorim Turismo and Juan Montes, Managing Director - JAMDAT Mobile.

This year's EIG Expo will feature an extra half-day of conference content but an 11 percent reduction in registration costs from last year. Additionally, visitors can now purchase exhibition only badges to allow more representatives to attend, although the main value will be in the conference proceedings.

Readers who are thinking about attending can get more detailed information and register online at www.eigexpo.com.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa